Senate Spilka takes the cake!

Senator Spilka offered an amendment to an amendment to appoint an IMPACT STUDY COMMITTEE to study the impacts of a reduction in the sales tax!

And she actually did it with a straight face, perhaps as a consequence of excess Casino KoolAid!



Senator Spilka:

Did you ever consider doing a COST AND IMPACT STUDY REGARDING CASINO LEGISLATION?

Give this Lady the Booby Prize!

CLERK 103

SALES TAX ROLLBACK

Messrs. Tisei, Tarr, Knapik, Hedlund, and Ross moved that the bill (Senate, No. 2495) be amended by inserting, after Section ___, the following new Section:-

“SECTION X. Section 2 of chapter 64H of the General Laws, as amended by section 53 of chapter 27 of the acts of 2009, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the figure “6.25 per cent” and inserting in place thereof the following words: - “five percent”.”

Further Clerk #103.1

Sales Tax Impact Analysis

Ms. Spilka moves to amend the pending amendment, (no. 103 by Mr. Tisei and others), by striking out the text and inserting in place thereof the following text:-
“by inserting after section 72 the following section:-
SECTION 72A. The secretary of administration and finance and the secretary of housing and economic development shall jointly study and report on the changing competitive profile of the commonwealth as a result of ongoing or imminent policy changes and the commonwealth’s response and the response of other states to the national fiscal crisis. This study shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following issues: modifications in taxation in the commonwealth and other states; a comparison of the level of state support for public secondary education, public higher education and workforce development between the commonwealth and other states; a comparison of the level of private investment between the commonwealth and other states; and a comparison of the level of student achievement between the commonwealth and other states. The study shall also include a review and comparison of recent multi-state studies by other state-funded or nonprofit groups, including but not limited to, the Tax Foundation, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University.
The secretaries shall collaborate with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and shall seek to collaborate with the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in conducting this study. The secretaries shall submit a written report of their findings and recommendations to the chairs of the joint committee on economic development and emerging technologies, the chairs of the joint committee on revenue, and to the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means, not later than 90 days after the effective date of this section.”