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PASSED
in the State House of Representatives
on May 4, 2018, by a vote of
92-48
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Purpose: To raise funds to pay for Lake Champlain and other water quality improvement measure.
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Analysis: S.260 would raise $6.4 million in new revenue, primarily from a $4.55 million increase in the state rooms and meals tax to 9.25 percent (up from 9 percent). The rest, $1.94 million, would come via the confiscation of revenue from unclaimed bottle/can deposits, which is currently the property of the beverage distributors and used to defray the costs of managing recycling programs.
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These taxes would not take effect until 2020, and only then if the legislature does not find another source of funding.
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Those voting YES believe higher taxes are necessary to fund water quality improvements.
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Those voting NO believe that water quality improvements should be funded with existing resources, that it should especially not be funded in a way that discourages tourism, such as increasing the rooms and meals tax, or in a way that punishes industries (tourism and beverage distribution) that do not contribute measurably to the pollution problem and, in the case of the unclaimed deposit money, actually help maintain a clean environment through recycling programs.
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As Recorded in the House Journal, Friday, May 4, 2018: “Shall the bill be read a third time? was decided in the affirmative. Yeas, 92. Nays, 48.” ( Read the Journal, p. 1541-1570.)
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