02/22/2008
The gloves come off
We knew it would happen. We're just surprised it took this long. House Republicans and Democrats can only make nice for so long. The gloves came off Thursday night when the Republicans cried "foul" over what they call abuse of House rules. SB335, the immigration bill sponsored by Sen. Mike Delph (Indianapolis), is now dead because its committee report was not adopted by the deadline on Thursday. Republicans walked out. The House is adjourned until Monday. Don't expect the gloves to go back on over the weekend. Stay tuned for round two this coming week.
Can they be serious? This idea is so bad it's almost laughable
This is not a joke. The House Ways and Means Committee actually approved an amendment that would base property tax bills on the income of the owner. Let me see: How many ways is this the lousiest property tax idea yet?
- Couples could transfer property to the lower income spouse. Stay-at-home mom? Zero property tax!
- Tax-savvy, high-income types and their accountants would quickly figure this one out, leaving the less fortunate folks to pick up the tab.
- No fiscal analysis has been completed. The authors of this bill have not a clue what the impact will be.
Hopefully, saner heads will prevail and this really, really bad idea will end up on the junk pile before the session ends.
Wins for small business this session
During a "short" session devoted primarily to property tax reform, defense has been the name of the game. NFIB has chalked up a number of bad-for-small-business bills that we were able to kill. Here are some highlights:
- HB1269 Employee Classification bill. This is the bill that would have forced employers to classify independent contractors as employees. Dead for this session.
- HB1242 Inventory Tax bill. This bill authored by Rep. Pelath would have brought back the inventory tax as well as other bad-for-business provisions. Dead for this session.
- HB1252 Sales Tax on Services. This bill authored by Rep. Saunders would have extended the Indiana sales tax to services. Dead for this session.
Just a reminder: When bills are killed, the concept contained in the bill can come back to life if it is inserted into another existing bill. We must remain vigilant to see that bad ideas do not rise from the dead in the waning hours of the session.
The rumor mill
Speaking of dead bills and rising from the dead ...
As I told you in my opening, the immigrant bill (SB335) was killed this week in the House. Story over? No way! Word has it that this legislation will be inserted into SB345, a bill which has nothing to do with employment or immigration. Never a dull moment at the Indiana Statehouse!
As we near conclusion of this critical legislative session, please contact your NFIB staff with your questions and concerns.
Barbara Quandt
State Director
Brian Christenberry
Member Support Manager
Jenifer Smith
Senior Administrative Assistant
