Calling a tax a tax

By Norman Leahy | Wednesday, December 28th, 2011 | Politics, Virginia

During the legislative dickering over the state budget in 2010, Del. Bob Marshall, alone among his colleagues, questioned the practice of embedded fee and other tax hikes directly into the budget language, as opposed to subjecting each proposed hike to debate and a vote. His questions and concerns were met with stony silence, and as a result, the budget that contained no tax increases managed to pass. But please, pay no attention to the fee increases, higher liquor prices (plus more ABC stores) and other sleights of hand used to balance the books.

It’s obvious from this bill that the whole experience still rankles Marshall. He proposes that rather than using words like fee or toll, that lawmakers instead be required to use the simpler, more blunt, word, “tax.” His bill carves out several generous exemptions to the label, so there’s little worry that the entrance fee you pay to a state park will be called a tax, or that your hunting license fee will now be a hunting tax. Specific benefits provided to specific users don’t fall under Marshall’s proposed bill.

Would it change much? Not likely. The larger question of embedding hikes directly in the budget bill goes unaddressed here. But a smaller purpose might be achieved: removing the temptation for doublespeak.

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