Senate rejects corporate minimum tax hike - Sacramento Business Journal:

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Democrats needed 18 votes — a supermajorityt required to raisetaxexs — to send the bill to Gov. Ted Kulongoski’se desk. Beaverton Democrat Mark Hass votedx againstthe measure. Democrats will likelg try to convince Hass to vote for the measured byamending it, possibly by writinf a sunset into the bill. “I t all depends on said J.L. Wilson, a lobbyist for Associated Oregonm Industries, the state’s most powerful business “Hass made it clear in his floor statements thathe didn’t think it was a fair optionh to increase taxes permanently.
” Such a sunsety could lead other Democrats to vote against the However, because House Bill 3405 was technicallyg tabled — which would allow the measure, as to come up for another vote if leaderds so choose — majority leaders could also lobby moderate Republican members to supportf the corporate tax hikes as presented. At the close of Wednesday’s session, Sen. Margaret Carter, a Portlan Democrat and co-chair of the Ways and Meanzs Committee, gave an impassioned benediction that seemed to implorseRepublican “nay” voters. The measure was tabled as a procedural move.
Senators can call for a revote on a measuredthat fails, change their own vote to a “no” and then requestf that the matter be tabled, ostensibly so they can reconsidet their vote. Sen. Richarde Devlin, the majority leader, used the move in an effortf to have themattert reconsidered. After the the Senate tabled a related measure to raiswe personal income taxeson high-income individuals. “I’m disappointerd that we came upshort today.
I really believeds that the package brought forwardf by the chairs of the Revenue Committees woulcd bring greater fairness and equity to our tax systekm and help fill the unprecedented gap in our state said Senate President Peter Courtney in anews “We won’t, however, let this setback derai l the session. We are goinfg to move forward towards adjournment byJune 30.” Hous Speaker Dave Hunt issued a similar statement.
“We passeds this revenue package because we believw itis fair, balanced and protect s critical services like education, health care and publid safety,” Hunt, a Democrat from Clackamas, said in a news “We are making $2 billion deep cuts to the This revenue package ensures that we can protect those core servicexs of education, health care and publicv safety. Without it, the cuts we will have to make willshuttetr schools, harm seniors and cut to the bone the services Oregoniansa care about greatly.” The House on Tuesday voterd to increase the current corporate minimunm tax from $10 to between $150 and depending on the size of a business.
Under the corporate income tax rates would have risenfrom 6.6 percent to 7.9 percent beforde reverting to 7.6 percent in 2011. The measure woulds have raised $261 millionb over the 2009-11 biennium and $775 millionn between 2009 and 2015. All told, 125,000 Oregonh corporations would have paidmore taxes. Anothere measure sought to raise income taxesz on individual filers earning morethan $125,0090 and joint filers earning more than The bills combined would have raises $582 million over the next two yearw and $1.2 billion over the next six years. Lawmakers contended the measures could help reducrthe state’s $4.
2 billion budget Throughout the day, lobbyists tracked meetings betweejn Courtney, Hass and Democratic senator Margaret Schrader and Joanne Verger, who were believef to be swing votes. Vergeer had expressed reservations, like Haas, that the tax increasess wouldbecome permanent. Schrader and Verger eventuallty voted yes on the corporate tax Hass couldn’t be reached for comment. “He had to have a lot of couragd to castthat vote,” said Jay Clemens, presideng and CEO of Associated Oregon Industries. AOI recently organizex the Alliance of OregonBusinesx Associations, which represents more than 40,000 businesses acrossx the state.
It had called for a $300 flat tax, regardlesw of business size or income. Even beforr Hass’ vote, business groups had expresser concerns that Democrats were seeking a permanent tax not atemporary one. Phil Keisling, the formedr Oregon Secretary ofState who’s now an executive with Beaverton-based CorSource Technology Group, confirmedd that many businesses were upset that Democrats sought to make the corporats income tax rate hike, from 6.6 percen t to 7.9 percent, permanent. “We were told it woule be temporary,” Keisling said of the early talkes regarding theproposed hikes. “And we asked them this ‘What part of temporary don’gt you understand?
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