CBO promises a full score of Build Back Better by Friday. The Congressional Budget Office said yesterday it plans to release a full cost estimate of the House Democrats’ Build Back Better Act by the end of the week by the end of this week. House moderates say they’ll vote for the big social spending, climate, and tax bill if the CBO score aligns with White House estimates. CBO already released estimates of eight portions of the bill but has yet to release a key piece, including the net costs of IRS funding and health care initiatives. The Joint Committee on Taxation finished its scoring of the tax portions of the bill earlier this month.
In Louisiana, a split decision on taxes. The state’s voters on Saturday approved a package of bills to lower personal and corporate income tax rates but eliminate the deduction for federal income taxes paid. They rejected a measure to centralize sales tax collections rather than through more than 50 local government agencies ranging from sheriffs to school boards. Both measures had bipartisan support.
In Indiana, maybe tax cuts? Republican Governor Eric Holcomb says “we shall see” about tax cuts given the state’s surging revenues. Some Republican lawmakers want to reduce the 7 percent sales tax and other taxes in the next legislative session. In the four months ending Nov. 1, the state collected 10 percent more revenue than expected, or $560 million. Cash reserves were $3.9 billion as of June 30. Thanks to an automatic tax refund law based on the size of the state surplus, taxpayers will each receive an estimated $170 next year.
In South Carolina, maybe gas tax relief? Democratic candidate for governor and former US House Rep. Joe Cunningham asked the General Assembly to temporarily suspend the gas tax to mitigate the recent rise in prices at the pump. He’d supplement the lost revenue from the 26-cent-per-gallon tax with American Rescue Plan funds or the state’s $1 billion budget surplus.
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