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Bill On Income Tax Ban Dies

Kelsey Says Some Want Replay Of 2002 Wars

POSTED: 12:32 pm CDT April 1, 2009
UPDATED: 6:20 pm CDT April 1, 2009

A proposed amendment to ban a Tennessee state income tax was presented and killed Wednesday.

Both Democrats and Republicans took issue with how notice of the ballot issue would be posted if the bill had passed. As it stood, notice would only have been posted on the Web sites of the General Assembly and secretary of state in an effort to circumvent the fiscal note that accompanies posting notice in newspapers.

An amendment was voted on to post notice in newspapers, at a cost of $20,000. Members of the panel argued that not all of their constituents have access to the Internet and wouldn't have a way to find out about the proposal until it reached the ballot.

Rep. Brian Kelsey, a Germantown Republican who presented the proposed Constitutional amendment, said that he had raised private funds to avoid the fiscal note but still publish notice in newspapers.

The subcommittee voted to put the bill behind the budget, more or less killing it for the year, said Channel 4 reporter Cara Kumari on her blog Wednesday.

Kelsey was upset after the vote and said that subcommittee members want to replay the 2002 wars over state income tax. He said many lawmakers of both parties only pay lip service to supporting an income tax ban.

"I think the members of this subcommittee just voted to ensure an income tax battle will come back up in the future," said Kelsey. "I think people like to act like and say in public that they are against an income tax, but when it comes down to vote, they vote in favor of an income tax."

No vote has as of yet been scheduled on the plan to implement a state income tax.

Reporter Cara Kumari is working on this story and will have a full report on Channel 4 News at 5 p.m.


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