H 489, the revenue bill and H 490, the budget bill are done
and on the Notice Calendar. Action will occur Thursday and Friday; then both
will go into conference with the House, hopefully late Friday. This sets
adjournment for two weeks from Friday.
In H. 489, sections 33 and 34 contain the new fees that
support the addition back of the 500K the administration wanted to cut. The language
is on pages 29 to 35 of Addendum 1 to today’s Senate Calendar here:
Also, sec. 87 calling for a report from the Tax Dept. on
extending the sales tax to services replaces the language we opposed yesterday
in our testimony. Here is that section:
Sec. 87. SALES TAX PROPOSAL
(a) The General Assembly concludes that the structural
deficiencies in
Vermont’s current revenue and budgeting structure, combined
with a change in
the State economy from an economy based on goods to an
economy based on
services, requires an examination and rethinking of
Vermont’s current sales tax
base.
(b) On or before January 15, 2016, the Commissioner of Taxes
shall report
to the Senate Committee on Finance and House Committee on
Ways and
Means on how the Department of Taxes would implement an
extension of
Vermont’s sales and use tax to select consumer services, not
to include
business to business services, most commonly taxed in other
states. The
extension of the sales and use tax modeled in the report
shall provide two
scenarios designed to raise both $15 million and $30 million
in revenue in
Vermont on an annual basis. The report shall include a draft
of proposed rules
which shall identify specific services by industry type that
are taxable or not
taxable. 62
(c) On or before January 15, 2016, the economists for the
Legislative and
Executive Branches, with the assistance of the Joint Fiscal
Office and the
Department of Taxes, shall file a joint report to the Senate
Committee on
Finance and the House Committee on Ways and Means on the
fiscal impact of
further extending Vermont’s sales and use tax to a broader
range of consumer
services. The report shall analyze the short- and long-term
economic impacts
to the State of Vermont of such an extension, and contrast
those impacts with
the short- and-long term projections of Vermont’s current
sales and use tax
revenues without the changes in the proposal.
In 490, read E. 204; this contains some of the "lighten
the load" language the judiciary wanted. It also includes a statement of
intent in E. 204.15 supporting filling the judicial vacancies. See pages 89-93
of today’s Addendum 2 to the Senate Calendar:
Here are the funding provisions for the judiciary in the
Senate version (see Sec B. 204):
Sec. B.204 Judiciary
Personal services 35,212,260
Operating expenses 8,683,467
Grants 76,030
Total 43,971,757
Source of funds
General fund 38,465,850
Special funds 2,667,462
Tobacco fund 39,871
Federal funds 473,301
Interdepartmental transfers 2,325,273
Total 43,971,757
The Senate increased the funding by $758,000 over the total
passed by the House. As I said above, we’re waiting for floor action tomorrow and
Friday, followed by a committee of conference. It’ll be a while.
Thanks for reading.
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