By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — The Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee rejected eight House tax-cutting bills Monday, including a measure that would have created a statewide back-to-school sales tax holiday.
Each of the bills failed on a voice vote after officials with the state Department of Finance and Administration informed the committee of their impact on state revenues and that the measures were not part of Gov. Mike Beebe’s proposed $4.4 billion budget for next fiscal year.
“We did come out with the Revenue Stabilization Law last Friday,” DF&A Director Richard Weiss told the committee.
To make the RSA work, Weiss said, $100 million from the anticipated $300 surplus at the end of the current fiscal year will be carried over into next year to fill in unfunded gaps.
“That, in turn, is going to create a huge challenge … for 2010, 2011 and 2012 (budget),” Weiss said, urging the committee not to support any of the tax cut proposals.
Along with rejecting HB 2202 by Rep. Tiffany Rogers, D-Stuttgart, which would have created an annual back-to-school sales tax holiday and cost the state about $1.6 million, the panel also voted down HB 1947 by Rep. Ed Garner, R-Maumelle, which would have eliminated the capital gains tax.
Other tax-cut bills rejected by the committee:
- HB 1911 by Rep. Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis, which would have allowed a business to carry over a net operating loss from one year to the next for up to 15 years.
- HB 1060 by Rep. Tracy Pennartz, D-Fort Smith, which would have provided an investment tax credit for projects in business improvement districts.
- HB 1378 by Rep. Allen Maxwell, D-Monticello, which would have provided income tax relief to heads of household taxpayers with two or more dependents.
- HB 1995 by Rep. Pam Adcock, D-Little Rock, which would have given the seller of a manufactured home park an income tax credit for selling the park to a resident buyer’s association.
- HB 1491 by Rep. George Overby, D-Lamar, which would have allowed a car dealer or manufacturer to provide a vehicle to a consumer pursuant to a warrant or service contract without having to pay a short-term rental tax.
- HB 1748 by Rep. Steve Breedlove, D-Greenwood, which would have allowed a income tax deduction for the purchase and use of a solar energy system.
- HB 1905 by Rep. Larry Cowling, D-Foreman, which would gradually reduce the sales tax on utilities used by agriculture equipment.
