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National Governors' Association
National
Conference of State Legislatures
April 7, 2000
Dear Senator:
The nation's Governors and state legislators strongly oppose any
amendment to permanently extend the moratorium established by the
Internet Tax Freedom Act.
A limited time period for the moratorium was one of the most
intensely debated provisions of the bill, and all parties agreed to
the three-year moratorium. We ask you to remember the original
purpose of the three-year moratorium. The moratorium was put in
place to give the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce time to
study the issue and recommend a comprehensive solution to Congress,
which then will have eighteen months to act on any findings or
recommendations. Unfortunately, the commission failed to reach a
consensus on an extension of the moratorium and will make no valid
recommendations. We all know that commerce is moving on Internet
time. How businesses align and how services and products will be
packaged and sold over the Internet will change quickly over the
next several years. Therefore, it is our strong conviction that it
would be inappropriate for Congress to make permanent what was
intended to be a short-term halt in activity.
If you or your staff have questions, please contact Frank
Shafroth at NGA at 624-5309.
We appreciate your consideration of our views.
Sincerely,
Governor Michael O.
Leavitt
Chairman
National Governors' Association |
Governor Parris N.
Glendening
Vice Chairman
National Governors'
Association |
Representative Paul
Mannweiler
House Republican Leader, Indiana
President,
National Conference of
State Legislatures |
Senator Jim Costa
California
State Senate
President-elect, National Conference
of
State Legislatures |
Signatures on file. |
