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« Puppy Love | Main | The Street Rises Up to Greet Kerry » May 3, 2004Here IT Comes
As things stand at the moment, the Tax Structure Study Commission is supposed to deliver its official recommendation in two months. A bill pending in the Legislature would extend the deadline to Dec. 31. "I don't think any legislators want to have the report come out on July 1 and then be in an election campaign in August," said Nelson Andrews, chairman of the 24-member commission that has been studying state taxes since February 2003.But later in the story, commission member and income tax proponent Bob Rochelle, a former state senator, claims only 13 percent of Tennesseans are really against the income tax. Why would lawmakers want to delay the report until after the election if it is going to recommend an income tax and 87 percent of Tennesseans support or at least are not opposed to an income tax? Answer: Rochelle is wrong. My guess is, he pulled that number either out of thin air or is referring to the most recent edition of the MTSU Poll, which was designed to generate a pro-income tax result by asking respondents questions using unrealistic hypothetical scenarios that portray an income tax in the best light possible. More on the badly flawed MTSU poll here. As for the Tax Structure Study Commission, it has been expected from the beginning that it would recommend an income tax. Ten of the commission's 15 members were appointed by either former Gov. Don Sundquist, who pushed for an income tax for four years, or by House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, who also pushed for passage of an income tax. The commission is stacked with members who favor the income tax and who are on record as having advocated for creation of a state income tax. More on the pro-income tax leanings of the Commission here and here. I have been unable to locate the legislation that Humphrey says is pending to delay the Commission's report. If you know the bill number, please leave it in the comments below. Posted in Tennessee Budget & Tax Policy
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The "independent" commission charged with studying Tennessee's tax structure and recommending changes