Rep. Ed Garner’s bill to give a tax cut to the wealthy through a capital gains tax cut on Arkansas property failed in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee on a voice vote. Republicans, and lobbyists from a conservative-funded legislative think tank, said it would be the greatest thing since sliced bread. State financial officers worried about the cost in lost tax revenue.
I don’t know if others mentioned it seems unconstitutional to favor Arkansas property; that a tiny percentage of people would reap most of the benefts; that there’s no demonstration of a correlation between capital gains tax cuts and economic development except the blind faith of proponents; that a 3 percent marginal future tax break doesn’t drive investment decisions. But I repeat myself. A bad bill was beaten, deservedly so. The question now is whether House Republicans will attempt to shut down government in a fit of pique.
Koch-paid lobbyists are complaining there was no roll call. They perhaps don’t realize that means their Republican senators didn’t request one.