PHOENIX (AP) - The Arizona Senate has approved a House bill cutting sales taxes farmers pay for fertilizer and pesticides.
The proposal approved Monday on a 17-12 vote would cost the state about $15 million a year and is being pushed by Republican Rep. Tim Dunn, a Yuma farmer. Dunn says Arizona is one of just two states that tax those items.
The state has levied taxes on the products since the state sales tax was put in place in the 1930s. Democrats oppose the measure as a special interest tax cut pushed by a company that lost a court case where it sought an exemption.
Democratic Sen. Martin Quezada said Monday the company then moved to the Legislature to get its way and says the measure gives a deal to a company that doesn't want to pay its share of taxes.
Dunn says the products are a cost of production that shouldn't be taxes.
The Arizona House Rules Committee killed and then revived a proposal that would triple the amount lawmakers get for expenses for each day they work as the Legislature rushes to finish its yearly session.
The appropriations committee passed the measure on a 9-1 vote late Monday morning. Minutes later, the measure failed to get a majority of Rules Committee members who normally rubber-stamp bills. About an hour later, the panel took a second vote with one opponent absent, sending the measure to the full House.
The Senate has an identical measure ready for a vote.
Lawmakers in both parties back the proposal, saying rural lawmakers especially are under-compensated for their costs of traveling to and staying in Phoenix during the session. They also note that federal tax law changes eliminated many expense write-offs.
The Arizona House Rules Committee has killed a proposal that would triple the amount lawmakers get for expenses for each day they work as the Legislature rushes to finish its yearly session.
The appropriations committee passed the measure on a 9-1 vote late Monday morning. Minutes later, the measure failed to get a majority of Rules Committee members who normally rubber-stamp bills. The measure could still be revived, but that appears unlikely.
Lawmakers in both parties back the proposal, saying rural lawmakers especially are under-compensated for their costs of traveling to and staying in Phoenix during the session. They also note that federal tax law changes eliminated many expense write-offs.
Lawmakers earn $24,000 a year, plus a daily expense stipend that currently is $60 for rural lawmakers and $35 for Maricopa County residents. Expense pay would rise to $185 a day and half that for Phoenix-area residents.
An Arizona House panel has advanced a proposal that would triple the amount lawmakers get for expenses for each day they work as the Legislature rushes to finish its yearly session.
The appropriations committee passed the measure Monday and it now goes to the full House. The Senate could vote on identical legislation Monday.
Lawmakers in both parties back the proposal, saying rural lawmakers especially are under-compensated for their costs of traveling to and staying in Phoenix during the session. They also note that federal tax law changes eliminated many expense write-offs.
Lawmakers earn $24,000 a year, plus a daily expense stipend that currently is $60 for rural lawmakers and $35 for Maricopa County residents. Expense pay would rise to $185 a day and half that for Phoenix-area residents.
