Senators Lamoureux, Files, Sample and Williams have already committed to a YES vote.
(subscription required to read entire articles from Ark Dem. Gazette)
Mike Masterson's (fully disclosure, also my husband) column today on the Capital Gains tax cut~
Tax reform for Jobs
By Mike MastersonTuesday, March 1, 2011
LITTLE ROCK — Why should the average Arkansan give a hoot about something so seemingly mundane as eliminating a capital gains tax?
GOP Rep. Ed Garner of Maumelle is the sponsor of such a bill, House Bill 1002, which has 40 co-sponsors. It passed in the House 53-40 and is now in the Senate.
Since Garner is the expert, I asked him why this potential law matters to everyday Arkansans. He said that the average Arkansan in our state, which has one of the country’s lowest per-capita incomes, might mistakenly think that eliminating the capital gains tax won’t mean a whit to them.
“They’d be inclined to wrongly think that eliminating this tax on new businesses will help the rich get richer while the middle class and working poor struggle to make ends meet,” he said.
“Supporters say the bill will create jobs, while its opponents call it a windfall for the rich that will cause budget shortfalls, which the governor has targeted at higher education.”
But Garner said that those scare tactics aren’t true by any stretch.
“This is not the typical capital gains tax cut because HB 1002 would eliminate the capital gains tax on all ‘new’ business investments in Arkansas. There would be no reduction of the tax on existing holdings, no socalled imaginary windfall for the rich or ‘trickle-down’ debate.
“Instead, for taking the risk of establishing a new business investment in Arkansas, our state won’t tax any profits the founders earn on their investment if the business is sold a year or more later.”
Why do we need this reform?
“Because Arkansas has a 4.9 percent capital gains tax and all but one of our surrounding states either don’t have this tax or already have eliminated all or some form of their capital gains tax for in-state investments.”
Does this bill matter that much?
“Ask any corporate accountant deciding on where in the South to locate his company’s new facility, or headquarters. Better yet, ask some high-profile Arkansans who move their business they built here before selling it to avoid the tax. These folks stay gone and their investment and charitable dollars go right along with them. You bet it matters when we don’t stay competitive.”
Read entire story here
Another story from the Ark Dem Gazette~ This article was published February 27, 2011
EDITORIALS Over the Ledge Tomorrow, pigs might fly
The House has passed a bill that would cut the state’s capital-gains tax on some property. In a state that could use every bit of capital it can get, this is good news. Now let’s let those who create jobs create even more of them. And not in surrounding states, but here at home. The governor calls this voodoo economics. So did George Herbert Walker Bush when he was running against Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination in 1980. If faulty memory serves, Ronald Reagan’s tax policies weren’t exactly bad for the country’s economy. (Read more...)
The Wall Street Journal Pipes In~
Governors get a jump on corporate tax reform.
President Obama says he wants corporate tax reform but hasn't proposed how to do it. Maybe he should take a look at the states, where as many as 10 new Governors are moving ahead to reform and reduce business taxes. The motive is to attract more businesses and create more jobs, while avoiding the fate of California and New York.
Take Iowa, which has the highest state corporate rate at 12%. Add that to the federal rate of 35%, and the Tax Foundation says the Hawkeye State may have the highest levy in the developed world. Governor Terry Branstadback ... (read more...)
National Taxpayers Union is a union I can believe in. Yesterday they sent an open letter to Senator Larry Teague ,(D-Nashville), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Revenue & Tax, and the members of that committee.
