A key subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee -- over the objections of the National Governors Association --has endorsed a bill to make the government’s existing moratorium on new Internet taxes permanent.
The moratorium was imposed in 1998, six years after the U.S. Supreme Court barred states from taxing mail-order sales without Congressional authorization. It was extended under the Internet Tax Non-Discrimination Act which is now scheduled to expire on Nov. 1, 2003.
The Internet Tax Fairness Act (HR-2526), sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), was endorsed in a voice vote by the panel’s subcommittee on commercial and administrative law chaired by Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA).
The measure now goes to the full Judiciary Committee for consideration. Chairman John Sensenbrenner (R-WI), was unable to say when the measure will come up for a vote before the full committee.
The NGA, in letters to Barr and Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC), the subcommittee’s ranking minority member, urged the panel to reject the bill as it "would not only interfere with state sovereignty, but also affect existing state revenues and budgets."
The two governors indicated the NGA would soon launch a move to have the full committee reject the bill.
