Gov. Kevin Stitt’s call for a special session that starts next Monday, one week ahead of when the Legislature convenes for four months, is a needless waste of taxpayer money.
The governor called the session to take up a cut in the state income tax. As some lawmakers have already pointed out, the Board of Equalization won’t meet until mid-February, at which time it will certify budget numbers.
Not until then will the Legislature know for sure how much it has to spend and if a cut in the state income tax is really feasible.
This special session likely is to go nowhere. Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat has indicated as much. He acknowledged he met with the governor and House Speaker Charles McCall to hear the governor lay out his special session on tax cuts.
But he informed the governor that legislators won’t know until after the Equalization Board meeting, which is not scheduled until after lawmakers convene Feb. 5, how much of an impact tax cuts will have on the state budget.
The Pro Tem said that the Senate will adhere to the call of the special session, which is its constitutional duty, just as it did back in October. Treat pointed out, however, he sees nothing different between then and now.
In October, the Senate didn’t even take up the issue at hand. We see that happening again next week as legislators answer the call to this senseless, wasteful special session.
There is more than one tax cut proposal out there for legislators to take up, completely vet and throughly weigh the impact of them on the state budget. That should come during the regular session, however.
The House Speaker has laid out his plan calling for phasing out the corporate income tax over five years and cutting the state income tax. He’s filed several bills prior to the regular session.
Whether they are introduced during the special session remains to be seen next week.
State Sen. Michael Bergstrom has filed a bill that he says is a pathway to zero income tax.
Legislators have plenty of time during the regular session to address these income tax measures rather than spend five days trying to decide anything about cutting taxes.
Lawmakers need to hold off until they have all the information available for them to make the most prudent decisions regarding taxes. They won’t have that until after the Equalization Board meets and provides those numbers.