House Passes PITFA; Telecom, Tech Industries Encourage Senate to Follow Suit
The Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (PITFA) (HR-3086) passed the House by a voice vote Tuesday, said a House Judiciary Committee news release (http://1.usa.gov/1jv4FH5). PITFA bans any taxation on Internet access. “We applaud the passage” of HR-3086 “today in the House,” said a joint statement (http://1.usa.gov/1jv4FH5) from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., House Judiciary Regulatory Reform Subcommittee Chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., and House Judiciary Committee members Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., and Steve Chabot, R-Ohio. “We hope that the Senate promptly acts on this vital legislation before the November 1st deadline.”
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"I applaud the House for its strong, bipartisan passage” of HR-3086, said Senate Finance Committee member John Thune, R-S.D., in a statement Tuesday. Thune introduced the Senate version of PITFA (S-1431) with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., it said. S-1431 has 51 co-sponsors in the Senate. The bill would “keep taxes off Internet access and encourage more Americans to use broadband,” said Thune. “It’s time” for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., “to take up this bipartisan bill to ensure we continue to keep the Internet accessible to consumers across the country and encourage innovation and investment in our global economy,” he said.
House Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., House Judiciary Committee member Judy Chu, D-Calif., and House Judiciary IP Subcommittee member Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, were among those members opposing the bill, they said on the House floor Tuesday. Conyers called the bill “misguided,” and Jackson Lee said she wanted a “four-year moratorium” on Internet taxes, rather than a permanent ban. PITFA shouldn’t be “confused” with Internet sales tax issues, said Eshoo, who called the bill a “consumer issue.”
The vote “reflects strong bipartisan support to protect all Americans from paying extra state and local taxes just to access the Internet,” said a Comcast spokeswoman in a statement Tuesday. Comcast urged the Senate to pass the bill before Nov. 1. “Without permanent extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, thousands of state and local jurisdictions could start levying new taxes on Internet access or bandwidth use, which could discourage broadband adoption and limit broadband investment,” said Steve Davis, CenturyLink executive vice president-public policy. “We look forward to working with the Senate to pass the companion bill and to seeing this important legislation enacted soon."
"Passage of this legislation will help promote economic growth and innovation while continuing to expand affordable Internet access,” said USTelecom President Walter McCormick in a statement (http://bit.ly/1r2pGd4) Tuesday. “At a time when Congress is looking to identify ways to encourage adoption, making ITFA permanent will assure that low-income households cannot be burdened with . . . new regressive taxes,” he said.
NCTA applauded the House’s passage of HR-3086, said CEO Michael Powell in a statement (http://bit.ly/1qcZ23e) Tuesday. “A failure to extend [the current tax moratorium] before Congress recesses in September will risk driving up the cost of Internet connectivity for tens of millions of American consumers and businesses.” Powell urged the “Senate to quickly take up and pass in July this important, bipartisan legislation.” CTIA hopes “the Senate moves expeditiously to follow suit and alleviate provider and consumer uncertainty driven by the moratorium’s looming expiration,” said Jot Carpenter, vice president-government affairs. CTIA urged the House to pass PITFA, said CEO Meredith Baker in a Monday letter (http://bit.ly/1nzCQ06) to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Goodlatte and Eshoo were copied on the letter. Said Baker: “Short-term extensions are no substitute for the certainty that will be provided by the permanent extension of a policy that has been an overwhelming, and bi-partisan, success.”