The House on Tuesday passed the ban via voice vote, placing pressure on the Senate to pass its version of the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act before Nov. 1, when the current moratorium on Internet access taxes expires.
The Senate version, called the Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act, is awaiting consideration from the Senate Finance Committee.
Under the original Internet Tax Freedom Act, passed in 1998, 10 states — Texas, North Dakota, Washington, South Dakota, Hawaii, New Mexico, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Ohio — were “grandfathered” under the moratorium and allowed to tax Internet access.
Of those 10 states, only three — Texas, North Dakota, and Washington — were ranked in the top 10 states for economic performance of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s 2014 “Rich States, Poor States” report. Those same three states also ranked in the top 10 of Forbes’ 2013 report, “The Best States for Business and Careers.”
PITFA’s main sponsor, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, praised Tuesday’s vote in a tweet, saying the ban was “important for our growing digital economy.”
More...Watchdog.org——
Bio and Archives
Watchdog.org is a collection of independent journalists covering state-specific and local government activity.
Our established investigative journalists and capitol news reporters across the country are doing what legacy journalism outlets prove unable to do: share information, dive deep into investigations, and provide the fourth estate that has begun to fade in recent decades.
