Tue, Feb 09 2010
|
Published November 20, 2009 08:56 am - ELLIS COLUMN: It's that special time of the year but a lack of vision and revenues portends coal nuggets in the state government stocking. Even in holiday season, it's hard not to be cynical in Frankfort Ronnie Ellis CNHI News Service Frankfort, Ky. — By Ronnie Ellis
CNHI News Service FRANKFORT, Ky.. – Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. But if your job is to listen to and report on Frankfort political leaders it’s hard to get into the spirit. Oh, some in Frankfort are in a giving spirit. Gov. Steve Beshear and Democrats seem to really enjoy giving jobs to Republican senators and most of them would love to give gambling to the horse industry. They’re perfectly willing to give tax dollars to a motorcycle company. But for nearly every one else, it’s going to be coal nuggets in the state government stocking. There’s something they could give everyone – reform of the tax code. Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville, and Rep. Bill Farmer, R-Lexington, are trying. Each has proposed major reform. Wayne wants to make the code more progressive and fairer by shifting some of the burden to the wealthiest Kentuckians. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, D.C. poorer Kentuckians pay a higher percentage of their income than the most affluent in Kentucky. Farmer wants to do away with the income tax and extend the sales tax to services, taxing consumption rather than income. He says it’s a simpler, fairer way to collect taxes and will spur job development. Critics say the sales tax falls disproportionately on lower income groups but his proposal would lower the sales tax rate from 6 to 5.5 percent. It’s easy to find lawmakers who say privately the sensible thing to do is take the best of each plan and pass a compromise version which would be fairer while providing “sustainable” revenue for state government. But no one really wants to do it. Not in an election year. Only last spring, Beshear wanted to increase alcohol, tobacco and gas taxes to plug an earlier $456 million budget hole. He and House Speaker Greg Stumbo needed Wayne’s and five other reluctant lawmakers’ votes. To get them, they promised to give comprehensive tax reform serious consideration before the next session of the General Assembly. Now they say, “This is no time to raise taxes.” But Wayne’s idea is to lower taxes on some who are paying too much and offset that with increases for those who aren’t paying enough. Farmer’s would eliminate some taxes while increasing them on frequently voluntary purchases. Both would produce more revenue for the state. 
More from the State News section
Activists, some lawmakers try again to cap payday lender interest Taping episode controversy escalates |
Print this story
Post to del.icio.us
 |
 |
 |
||||||
|
||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
© 2010, The Glasgow Daily Times
100 Commerce Drive Glasgow, KY 42142 Phone: (270) 678-5171 
|
Popular Business directory links - Glasgow Apartments | Glasgow Attorneys | Glasgow Auto Dealers | Glasgow Auto Parts | Glasgow Auto Repair | Glasgow Beauty Salons | Glasgow Car Rental | Glasgow Dentists | Glasgow Doctors | Glasgow Flowers | Glasgow Hotels | Glasgow Insurance | Glasgow Loans | Glasgow Mortgages | Glasgow Movers | Glasgow Pizza | Glasgow Realtors | Glasgow Restaurants | Glasgow Storage | Glasgow Tax Preparation | Glasgow Travel | Glasgow Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service |
