House Passes Tax Cuts, Doesn’t Pass Them On

When is a tax cut bill that passes the House not really a tax cut bill that passed the House?

New Hampshire saw the question asked and answered Wednesday when two tax cut proposals were approved by the full House. In a rare parliamentary move, House Republican leaders then stopped, or “tabled” the bills, preventing them from moving to and being considered by the Senate, where they would receive a second round of public hearings, committee considerations, and floor votes.

Norma Love of the Associated Press reported that House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Stephen Stepanek (R-Milford) urged the House to cut the rooms and meals tax (House Bill 166) and a telephone tax (House Bill 37), which combined would shave as much as $64 million from revenue estimates for the 2012-2013 biennium budget. But, after the bills passed by wide margins, Stepanek offered a motion to table the bills because, he said, “We do not have the necessary funds (now) to pass this tax reduction.”

Former House Speaker and Democratic House leader Terie Norelli (D-Portsmouth) said the parliamentary move was a “sleight of hand gimmick” that allows House Republicans to get the public relations benefit of tax cuts without having to deal with the revenue-draining consequences of their actions.

“We have been told they plan to do this with every tax cut bill,” Norelli tells Front Door Politics. “If you don’t have the money (for tax cuts), why bring it forward? What kind of public policy is this?” she asks.

Norelli says that during her four years as Speaker and more than 14 years in the House, she had never seen such a parliamentary “tabling” action for revenue or spending bills. She says bills that pass the House are rarely — if ever — tabled, the exception being new information or a study that could cause House members to reconsider their votes. Norelli expects the tax cut proposals will emerge later in the session during budget negotiations with the Senate. In her estimation, that would mean less transparency, public input and legislative debate.

Stepanek agrees that tax cuts could be revived later in the session during budget negotiations with the Senate — if there’s money to pay for them.

Some rank and file Republicans were not pleased with Wednesday’s tabling motion, and 31 voted against it. According to the Associated Press story, Rep. Tony Soltani (R-Epsom) said the tax cuts should have been moved to the Senate. “We give you a tax cut and take it away. Why can’t we be honest about it?” Soltani asked.

The House Republican Office did not return a call seeking comment and further clarification for this dispatch.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.

Posted by Hilary Niles on Feb 18 2011. Filed under business taxes, Commerce, Food & Drink, Government, Money, Property, public hearings & public records, rooms and meals, state budget, taxes, telephone, Weekly Briefing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry