Choosing what it considers the lesser evil, the National Assn. of...
Choosing what it considers the lesser evil, the National Assn. of Counties (NACo) last week urged Congress to “quickly pass” S-150 by Sen. Allen (R-Va.), a bill that as amended would revive the moratorium on Internet access taxes 4…
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years. S-150 cleared the Senate after being amended on a 93-3 vote. By not making the moratorium permanent, the bill “allows Congress to continue the study of emerging technologies,” NACo said, adding that the compromise reached on the legislation during floor debate “maintains an equitable definition of ‘access.'” NACo opposed the original Allen bill, as well as the initial compromise offered by Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.). But NACo Deputy Legislative Dir. Jeff Arnold said compromise language clarifying that S-150 wouldn’t prevent states from collecting taxes on VoIP “should be considered a huge victory for local and state governments because it substantially reduces the potential for a major unfunded mandate. Arnold also said NACo was pleased states that had taxed Internet access before the original 1998 moratorium will be permitted to continue doing so for the length of the extended moratorium; the original McCain language ended the grandfathering after 3 years. S-150’s next likely step is a conference with the House, which passed HR-49 by Rep. Cox (R-Cal.) last summer. That bill makes the moratorium permanent, ends grandfathered taxes immediately and doesn’t address VoIP. NACo said HR-49 “gives major tax breaks to the telecommunications industry.”