blasts ostensibly conservative Republican Senate leaders for not getting rid of an outrageous tax, something is seriously wrong in Austin. That is what happened earlier this week.When the moderate to liberal editorial board of the San Antonio Express-News blasts ostensibly conservative Republican Senate leaders for not getting rid of an outrageous tax, something is seriously wrong in Austin.
That is what happened earlier this week.
While the House voted unanimously to get ride of the obsolete 1.25 percent TIF tax on Texans’ telephone bills, this legislation (HB735 by Rep. Joe Straus) has been languishing like a sleeping tortoise in Senator Steve Odgen’s Senate Finance Committee since March 29.
The Express-News asks:
“Why wouldn’t fiscal conservatives such as Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, Senate Finance Committee chairman, jump at the opportunity to trash this obsolescent tax? That’s a good question.
There’s still time for Dewhurst and Ogden to get on the right side of truth in taxation. But the legislative session is ticking to a close.”
As the article points out, the purpose of this hidden tax – to wire rural libraries and classrooms – was long ago accomplished and now all the money is diverted into general revenues.
It is time for Dewhurst and Ogden to hear taxpayers loud and clear on this.
