Monday, January 22, 2007

 

Today committees will address changing funding for transportation, tax cuts, and open access to public meetings.

 

This Morning:

 

HOUSE REVENUE AND TAXATION (in W135 at 8  a.m.) first tackles HB 98, which allows local governments to issue bonds to pay for state highways within their boundaries, including environmental studies..  HB 98 also allows revenue from the County Option Sales and Use Tax for Highways, Fixed Guideways, or Systems of Public Transit to be spent on local highway projects of regional significance. 

            H.B. 226 allows local governments to collect sales taxes for highways and transit without being within a transit district.  It also says transit or fixed guideway projects need not be owned and operated by a public transit district in order to for a county to spend sales taxes on it.

            As for tax cuts, HB 282 would remove the rest of the sales tax on food but appropriate money for rural areas that use the food tax revenue for local hospitals.

            The fourth tax bill is HB 123.  It reduces the 6.98% income tax rate to 6.95%, the flat tax rate from 5.35% to 4.9%, enacts tax credits, and removes the rest of the sales tax on food.  According to the fiscal note, in Fiscal year 2008 the loss in revenue to the state would be about $173 million from the Education Fund and $106 million from the General Fund for a total of $279 million.  Some of the Education Fund loss would be made up by a $70 million transfer from the General Fund.

 

Three Open and Public Meeting bills will be heard.  HB 204, in House Government Operations at 9 a.m., calls for notices of emergency meetings to include time, place and topics, and it allows topics raised by the public but not on the agenda to be discussed as long as no final action is taken.  

 

HB 222, in Political Subdivisions at 8 am says public bodies must give public notice of their meetings on the Internet.  SB 133, in the Senate Education Committee at 8:30, asks school boards to hold public hearings before closing a school or changing school boundaries.

 

This afternoon Appropriations Subcommittees meet. 

 

 

Sandy Peck

home (801)274-1047  or  LWV  (801)272-8683

LWV email:  lwvut@xmission.com

 

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