Bill Summary for Bill Number SB09-082

Date: 01/28/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB09-082

SENATE COMMITTEE ON STATE, VETERANS & MILITARY AFFAIRS

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Moved that Senate Bill 09-082 be postponed indefin Moved that Senate Bill 09-082 be referred to the C	PASS FAIL

02:37 PM -- Senate Bill 09-082

Senator Schultheis, prime sponsor, presented Senate Bill 09-082, and commented on refund mechanisms available for Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) surplus refunds . He noted that there have been no TABOR refunds to Colorado taxpayers since 2001. He said that Senate Bill 09-082 will remove 16 of 17 existing refund mechanisms available under current law for TABOR surplus refunds. He noted that the sales tax refund mechanism is not eliminated by Senate Bill 09-082. He said that, eventually, the refund mechanisms will prevent any TABOR refunds to the taxpayers who actually contributed the tax dollars. He distributed a list of TABOR surplus refund mechanisms to the committee (Attachment A.) Senator Boyd said that each of the mechanisms should be examined based on its own merits.

The following persons testified on Senate Bill 09-082:

02:52 PM -- Chaer Robert, representing the Women's Lobby of Colorado, said that low-income persons do not benefit from reductions in the state income tax, and should benefit in the future from a surplus refund mechanism. She said that members of this group do pay many other types of taxes. She asked that the Earned Income Tax Credit mechanism be continued as a TABOR refund mechanism.

02:58 PM -- Kathy White, representing the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, opposed Senate Bill 09-082. She commented the state's six-tier sales tax refund mechanism, and said that it renders Colorado's sales tax imposition "more progressive." She said that this refund mechanism reaches 265,000 low-income Colorado families and that it should be retained as a TABOR refund mechanism in spite of the fact that it will not likely be available to low-income families until 2013. She opposed the Senate Bill 09-082.


BILL:	SB09-082
TIME:	03:09:46 PM
MOVED:	Schultheis
MOTION:	Moved that Senate Bill 09-082 be referred to the Committee of the Whole. The motion failed on a 1-3-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Boyd	No
	Cadman	Excused
	Schultheis	Yes
	Bacon	No
	Williams	No




Not Final YES: 1 NO: 3 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	SB09-082
TIME:	03:10:20 PM
MOVED:	Boyd
MOTION:	Moved that Senate Bill 09-082 be postponed indefinitely. The motion passed on a 3-1-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Boyd	Yes
	Cadman	Excused
	Schultheis	No
	Bacon	Yes
	Williams	Yes


Final YES: 3 NO: 1 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS