The Governor’s Tax Package-Bill By Bill
Here is a summary of, and link to, each bill in the Governor’s tax package. As required by law, all revenue enhancers must start in the House, and a 3/5 majority is needed for passage.
Please note that all are sponsored by the Democratic leadership as the Rethugs seem determined to simply play political Russian Roulette with the State’s finances:
HB 260(Gilligan): Removes the State Personal Income Tax exemption from lottery winnings.
HB 261(Gilligan): Adds direct-to-home satellite services to the public utility tax base and increases tax rates on public utilities other than cable television.
HB 262(Gilligan): Increases certain documents and records fees.
HB 263(Schwartzkopf): Increases fees levied by the Fire Marshal’s Office.
HB 264(Longhurst): The Big Kahuna. The State Personal Income Tax bill. This will increase the personal income tax rates from 5.55% to 5.95% on taxable income ranging from $50,000 to $60,000; from 5.95% to 6.95% on taxable income ranging from $60,000 to $150,000; and from 5.95% to 7.45% on taxable income in excess of $150,000. ‘Bulo highlighted the last one b/c it appears that at least one element of John Kowalko’s plan made the cut. Not as much graduation in the Code as the Beast Who Slumbers would like to see, but better than it was before.
HB 265(Longhurst): Reinstates the Delaware Estate Tax and at least partially turns the tables on one of the worst initiatives that ever came out of the Gingrich/Bush Rethuglican Party. Remember how they rebranded the Estate Tax into the “Death Tax” and essentially used Orwellian manipulation of language to give another break to the least deserving among us, i. e. the Inheritance Millionaires? This begins to reverse that trend, and it’s about time.
HB 266(Longhurst): Certain to be one of the most controversial bills in the package, and one that might be a struggle to pass, this increases business and gross receipts tax rates.
HB 267(Gilligan): Increases administrative fees charged by the Secretary of State.
HB 268(Gilligan): Establishes a voluntary compliance mechanism to incentivize tax delinquents to pay what they owe ASAP.
Finally, to point out just how full of BS the Rethugs are on this, one only needs to read this report from today’s News-Journal:
“Georgetown Republican Joe Booth, who sits on the JFC, said the tax bills introduced Monday “should have been out earlier.”
“If we’re in the era of open government, these bills could have been out earlier and we could have had time to discuss them and not ram them through,” Booth said.
How disingenuous is this statement? Allow ‘bulo to count the ways:
1. Booth is on the JFC. All the legislators were kept apprised of the negotiations on the package every step of the way by their caucus members who serve on JFC. If Dick Cathcart and his Mindless Minions were not, they have Joe Booth to blame for not keeping them up-to-speed.
2. There is more time to discuss these proposals, despite the crisis atmosphere in which they’ve been created, than there has been time in most years, including the past 24, when the House was controlled by the Rethugs. In fact, the package has been referred to the House Revenue & Finance Committee for deliberation, not being rushed to the floor under suspension of rules, as routinely took place when the Rethugs were in charge.
3. Perhaps the bills would/could have been released earlier if Dick Cathcart hadn’t held his breath and threatened to go home. The Governor was seeking bipartisan support for the tough decisions required of true leaders. However, Jack Markell is learning the same lesson as Barack Obama: Rethugs have no interest in responsible governance, their only interest is to try to wring political advantage from every situation.
Remember, folks, the State has to pass a balanced budget. Working to get that done would be the responsible thing to do. That would not be the Republican Way.
“….used Orwellian manipulation of language to give another break to the least deserving among us, i. e. the Inheritance Millionaires?
Oh, I see. The ‘most deserving’ is the government. And the good thing is, they are just sooooo responsible.
In a free country, an estate tax is called what it is…legalized theft.
“In a free country, an estate tax is called what it is…legalized theft.”
Uh-oh. George V’s visit has suddenly made all this site’s trolls dumber.
‘Bulo:
All snark aside, ‘nonone thanks you for all of your posts. I think you must be “The Beast Who NEVAH Slumbers.”
Any time you want to compare academic credentials, let me know, Geezer.
I’d be shocked to find out that people like “callerRick” earned enough for their heirs to be impacted by an estate tax.
That an entire generation of middle class Republicans have been turned into empty-headed shills for guys like Pete DuPont continues to amaze me.
note to self: this is a liberal blog written in the interest of liberal readers and participants.
Som, how the hell could I possibly have any conversation about this with you when you have already declared with a steel-tipped boot that any Republican motive is a bad motive? That’s wonkery at the highest and can’t be argued soley on the dismissiveness of it. One thing I learned with those in my own area and here, once it’s gone partisan wonk, there is no debate, because it’s all anecdotal.
Now do something totally useful (to me) and consígame una cerveza.
RSmitty asks El Som:
how the hell could I possibly have any conversation about this with you when you have already declared with a steel-tipped boot that any Republican motive is a bad motive?
Only because it is true. You just haven’t let it sink in yet.
“Any time you want to compare academic credentials, let me know, Geezer.”
Any time you want to compare posts for failures of logic, let me know, Rick. What part of your wonderful education taught you to make such stupid statements as those in #1?
Only because it is true. You just haven’t let it sink in yet.
:meditating:
Ohhhhm…..ohhhhm….ohhhhhmmmmmmm…
Look for Joe Booth to run for Thurman’s vacant seat. He’s positioning himself. And, there’s no risk involved if he loses. I say let him have the seat. He’ll move from one minority chair to another and maybe the Dems can find someone to boost the majority in the House by one….
I place my bet w/ PI. Are my winnings gonna be taxed?
Some advice for you guys. The conservatives are convinced they are smarter and funnier than the rest of us. Every time one of them jumps in with a comment a few of you will take the bait and attempt to win the battle of words. You come off looking smug and very un-funny. After a short time you ignore them. And then it starts all over again. Come on – smarten up – it’s for a good cause
JC: yes.
The issue with the estate tax that isnt taken into consideration are the land wealthy, cash poor. Those with family farms, land, etc that are worked and used to pay for daily bills and have no marketability because of location, but because they are 80-150 acres have a paper value of 2.5 million. and you say, well just sell it. however, if it were that easy of course people would. however land is very hard to sell if it isnt sitting on concord pike or in hockessin. so after the death of the owner you have 9 months to pay the estate tax bill. if they move teh exemption back to 2 mil like they are talking about, than someone with 2.5 mil would owe 225k in taxes. where do they get that money from? they mortgage the land again and hope it sells before they need to file personal bankruptcy to keep paying taxes and mortgages.
“The conservatives are convinced they are smarter and funnier than the rest of us.”
Well, we do have a good time laughing at them…
Arthur: All of that is easily remedied with a visit to a lawyer who specializes in trusts.
There you go geezer. Go back and re-read my piece. Let the words sink in.
Geezer,
My thoughts exactly. The threadbare family farm example that conservatives point to is bogus.
liberbill-most of us tolerate and may even like one another apart from the comments here. So even if comments come across as quick, curt, wordy, or smug, all commentors have given me personally a dimension I may have not considered…or outlined a consequential impact not weighted. To someone who only looks to comment w/ the company line and then retreat, it’s a cold, cruel world around here. And since budgets are really about people, sometimes animation is needed to define what that real bottom line looks like….bruised, bloody, or broken. As far as the other topics go–it’s just political ADD for most–off and running to the next partisan travesty–and reporting it sometimes like a vengeful mother-in-law. Just a thought.
Liberbill: “Don’t feed the trolls” is advice as old as the internet. The difference is that most of the trolls here are known to us, both on- and offline. IF you don’t like it, there are a few million other sites you could visit instead.
“Any time you want to compare posts for failures of logic, let me know, Rick…geezer
If vapid, broken-record aphorisms, name-calling, obfuscation and appeals for censorship are the benchmark, you are a genius.
Is the transmission of large wealth a fit subject for taxation? For a century, the answer to that question has been yes. The U.S. has imposed an estate tax ever since it decided that world-wide military and diplomatic influence was required, and that 19th-century tariff-based modes of revenue-raising were insufficient or inequitable for the purpose.
In 1916, the estate tax was enacted, in large part at the behest of red staters who made clear that if the nation was to embark on preparedness, it would not be by virtue of yet another tax that pounded the laborer, farmer or artisan but should be imposed on large transfers of wealth. The drive was led by the 26th president, whose 1906 SOTU address proposed an estate tax that would accompany a graduated income tax.
TR’s views were followed by every president until Bush.
Blah blah blah. You have nothing to say, and an unoriginal way of saying it.
#21 was aimed at cR, not JM.
JM touches on another of my bitch points: so many want to latch onto TR and Lincoln as great symbols of the party (the current party, of all things), but so very few know what they actually did that made them so effective and *gasp* PROGRESSIVE. They would puke all over today’s incarnation.
Lincoln and TR would be Democrats today.
They latch on to TR and Lincoln because they had good ideas.
My fondness of TR is most likely what puts me at odds against the current party.
Tell you what. We’ll take T Roosevelt; you can have Grover Cleveland.
That would be the most lopsided trade since the Phillies traded Grover Cleveland Alexander for Pickles Dillhoefer.
More/increased taxes on public utilities? You’ve got to be kidding me! This is raising taxes on the “rich?” Hold on, I’m laughing so hard I’ve fallen out of my seat!
All of my taxes are being raised because by working two jobs to support my family I’m in a the $55-$60K a year bracket. WTF???? I’m seriously struggling now with my son entering college in September and all anyone of our reps want to do is raise taxes. Oh and I get health insurance through my employer so now I’ll be taxed for that too! Great! Another f’in tax! I’m just keeping my head above water as it is. And I KNOW most people are in my boat -not in Pete DuPont’s! Can’t someone come up with a new and progressive idea for generating revenue besides hitting up the middle class???
Let’s see, a quick and dirty look at the proposed increases potentially snags me at 7 of the 9 you list. Do you Dems want fries with that? You know a little here and there erodes a beach. And for one who doesn’t stand the need for amnesty, I guess once again, I get all the rules and none of the benefits. Can I at least get the time value of money applied as a credit to my taxes, to offset the real yesterday dollars that were owed?
Aside to OneOfMany: Relax. HB 261 only provides that the same tax which already applies to Comcast and Verizon subscribers will also apply to Direct TV and similar services.
One of many: See Ted Keller’s letter to the editor in TNJ today. Democrats tried to put more of the burden on the rich; Republicans wouldn’t have it.
Maybe you’re too busy working two jobs to think this through, so I’ll do it for you: When Republicans rail against taxes, they’re talking about their own, not yours.
Which is stupid because services like Direct TV don’t require any right of ways from the state like Verizon and Comcast do. It costs the state not one penny for DTV to serve their customers in DE. No land, no permits, no inspections, no down road time, no unsightly towers…..nothing. What exactly are they taxing?
For all of those crying crocodile tears on the poor ‘land-rich, cash-poor’ folks suffering from the sheer onerousness of the Estate Tax, the bill provides that it only kicks in at $3.5 million.
Don’t be taken in by the same BS that gave these multimillionaires the break in the first place.
After years of living paycheck to paycheck, meeting all of our obligations, advancing our education to achieve some level of job satisfaction and discretionary spending, the state wants me to go back to the plant and live paycheck to paycheck.
I’m done. Move over FSP, you are right, democrats suck.
Geezer, I am working two jobs, and need those Republicans to rail, because those taxes aren’t just affecting them. All those “housekeeping” taxes translate to ubiquitous burden for a reasonable standard of living in this good ol’ USA. Go ahead w/ some PIT increase, but don’t nickle and dime me under the guise of increases or “usage/excise taxes”. It becomes resentment at every corner. Then, if you do raise PIT, don’t even think about touching gross receipts…because once again, what once was shared will now need to be collected….we only have so much. MONEY–it’s a resource–also to be used wisely.
No republican should support any of the massive democrat tax increases. Dens grew the government let them cut it and acknowledge the state has a spending problem which can’t be fixed by choking off the economy with tax increases .
No GOP support for tax increases
Mike Protack
If it seems like Protack is commenting a lot – please note that it is the same one or two comments over and over and over and over again.
Can we say sunset? The Democrat’s refusal to sunset the tax increases means that they aren’t wasting a good crisis. They have a bigger government agenda to fund. Read Jack’s book.
“Blah blah blah. You have nothing to say, and an unoriginal way of saying it.”….geezer
Excellent demonstration of self-parody. Superb!
Remember, folks, the State has to pass a balanced budget. Working to get that done would be the responsible thing to do. That would not be the Republican Way.
I love how taxing because time is short is more responsible than spending six months to trim the budget to live within the state’s means.
Instead, let’s waste a whole hell of alot of energy, time, and political pandering by distracting the populace with state worker paycuts.
This whole General Assembly session has been ridiculous. Simply ridiculous.
What is it with libs and regressive taxes? sounds good on paper, but the rich get around it, and it ends up nailing the middle and lower class. just look at any “sin” tax, or the proposed carbon tax, cap and trade, and VAT.
but its ok, because i’m sure they know whats best for me.
“sounds good on paper, but the rich get around it, and it ends up nailing the middle and lower class. just look at any “sin” tax, or the proposed carbon tax, cap and trade, and VAT.”
Do you have anything approaching a fact to back up this childish opinion, or are you just listening to your own voice resonating inside your colon?
1. Joanne: The gross receipts tax is best not described as a nickle-dime affair. It is a broad-based, robust and recession-resistant revenue source.
2. Meatball: Excise taxes are exactly that, taxes, and not payments for services rendered. Other than user fees and income taxes, most state taxes are excise taxes, which rarely correspond to a specific service from or cost to the government. If you’re arguing that the state should rely more exclusively on income taxes or entry fees to state parks, I’m sympathetic. In a better world, states would rely more on income taxes and less on sales taxes and other regressive levies, but that runs against the political realities in most states.
3. Brian: Your position is understandable, but a bit late. Had the House GOP formulated a reasonably concrete budget that specified a half-billion dollars in program cuts, you’d have some cards to turn over. The House GOP has done nothing of the sort and appears quite rudderless, to put it politely.
“Excellent demonstration of self-parody. Superb!”
Right back atcha. Could you provide a link, please, to any comment you have ever made that makes a point beyond your own childishness and self-regard? Thanks in advance.
“In a better world, states would rely more on income taxes and less on sales taxes and other regressive levies, but that runs against the political realities in most states.”
And in a better Delaware, we would not be one of only 13 states without a state-wide property tax. That’s the most progressive form of tax you can find, but those DuPonts with their Chateau Country acres would never stand for it.
As JM points out, by the way, the Republican response to the budget has been to call for more taxes on the lower and middle classes.
Joanne: Set it to music and call it the blues. My taxes are going up, too. Try being a grown-up about it and see how it feels.
“There is a growing awareness of the need for fundamental tax reform,” Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said in an interview. “I think a VAT and a high-end income tax have got to be on the table.” – washington post
“House Democrats, for example, are weighing a tax on soft drinks and a value-added tax, a broad-based consumption tax similar to the sales taxes many states levy.” – New York Times
“PRINCETON, NJ — The 62-cent increase in federal cigarette taxes going into effect Wednesday is nearly three times as likely to affect low-income Americans as it is to affect high-income Americans. That’s because 34% of the lowest-income Americans smoke, compared with only 13% of those earning $90,000 or more per year.” – http://www.gallup.com
cap and trade – http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/buffett-cap-and-trade-is-a-regressive-tax/
quick question, who spends more of their paychecks on electricity, and gasoline? poorer people do. so, in utility business, when they get hit with extra taxes, they pass it on to the customers. (that’s us)
Geezer – Thanks for watching my back.
Phil: Yes, I know about the proposed taxes. What I meant was any evidence that “the rich just get around it.” How would they avoid a VAT (which I think is a horrible idea, by the way)?
Instead we raise taxes on booze and smokes, which is inherently regressive since only poor folks smoke and drink. Except for me, that is. But I only buy the good stuff; maybe they can “progressively” tax Glenfiddich and Hoya de Monterreys to make sure I pay “my fair share.” Oh well, they’ll make it up in gambling, AKA tax on people who can’t do math.
Any good or service purchased through a business can recover their VAT. end-user consumers cannot. Who is more likely to own a business and commit this fraud? A lot of the rich use businesses as tax havens already.
John: Nickle and dime was not referring to gross receipts–it was all the taxes BEFORE gross receipts, up to PIT. Raising PIT incrementally is fair, raising gross receipts is the double whammy.
Geezer: Hate the blues, been the adult, paid my taxes, no amnesty for me, can I have a raincheck? I’m only asking.
Joanne: I’m not a blues fan either. Rain check? Sure. But what’s the amnesty about?
Hasty editing can leave waste. To clarify: reliance on some user fees, such as admission charges to state parks, is a hideous way to raise revenue. In fact, I don’t see the purpose of charging any admission fees to our state parks. We’ve heard of pay to play, but pay to hike and picnic?