House debate begins on tobacco and other taxes
House members have begun committee debate over tax and budget bills that would raise more than $940 million in new taxes.
However, agreement over the tax proposals is hard to come by. Although Democrats control the House, some rank-and-file members are pushing back against proposals by their leaders.
In the House Finance Committee, Rep. Van Braxton, a Kinston Democrat, pushed an amendment that stripped new cigarette and other tobacco taxes from the bill. That amendment passed 22-7, but the tax package is not yet final.
Debate on the tax measure and a related budget bill is expected to continue throughout today.
Meanwhile, some other Democrats say the tax increases don’t go far enough.
“We need to get as close to $2 billion as possible,” said Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat who said he opposed the tax package because it was too small.
Jones called the current tax proposal a symbolic step that fell short of meeting the state’s needs. The state should follow the federal government 's example in terms of spending more to spark economic recovery, he said.
More online
Click here to fort today’s newspaper story explaining more about the tax proposal.
Click here for the Capital Beat blog, where you can find documents explaining the tax proposals and listen to audio of Rep. Earl Jones explaining why the tax increase should be bigger.
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