This Washington
Rep. Cody Introduces Legislation to Repeal Corporate Tax Breaks
As we noted in Fizz this morning, state Rep. Eileen Cody (D-34, W. Seattle) was queueing up a bill to cancel a batch of corporate tax loopholes to fund the Basic Health Plan.
Cody made the bill available today. In addition to ending the $50 million bank loophole on mortgage loans and tax breaks for cosmetic surgery that we noted this morning, it would also end a tax break for corporate jets and, reintroducing an idea that got shot down last year , eliminate the loophole for TransAlta's coal plant, the Centralia plant that's the subject of negotiations to phase out coal. (The move to end the bank loophole also failed last year.) Cody's proposal is worth $150 million.
Last year, they just didn't have the votes. This year, there's an even tougher hurdle: Under to Tim Eyman's two-thirds rule for raising taxes, ending loopholes could be considered raising taxes, meaning that Cody may need a two-thirds vote to repeal the tax breaks. Eyman's Initiative 1053 doesn't explicitly identify shutting down loop holes as raising taxes. However, it does explicitly say that "raising taxes" means any legislative action that "increases state tax revenue." Ultimately, the interpretation is up to Lt. Governor Brad Owen—the president of the senate—who has made it clear that he believes closing corporate loopholes is tantamount to raising taxes.
We have a call in to Cody.
Cody made the bill available today. In addition to ending the $50 million bank loophole on mortgage loans and tax breaks for cosmetic surgery that we noted this morning, it would also end a tax break for corporate jets and, reintroducing an idea that got shot down last year , eliminate the loophole for TransAlta's coal plant, the Centralia plant that's the subject of negotiations to phase out coal. (The move to end the bank loophole also failed last year.) Cody's proposal is worth $150 million.
Last year, they just didn't have the votes. This year, there's an even tougher hurdle: Under to Tim Eyman's two-thirds rule for raising taxes, ending loopholes could be considered raising taxes, meaning that Cody may need a two-thirds vote to repeal the tax breaks. Eyman's Initiative 1053 doesn't explicitly identify shutting down loop holes as raising taxes. However, it does explicitly say that "raising taxes" means any legislative action that "increases state tax revenue." Ultimately, the interpretation is up to Lt. Governor Brad Owen—the president of the senate—who has made it clear that he believes closing corporate loopholes is tantamount to raising taxes.
We have a call in to Cody.
