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Cell phone company exemptions
Date: Jan 26, 2005
Contributor: Sharron Dates
In the "here we go again" category, there is a movement afoot to repeal the property tax exemption for telephone poles and wires. You see, telephone companies have not had to pay property taxes on poles and conduits carrying telecommunications lines. The industry collects the 7 percent communications service tax from its customers for the state, by the way. For collection of that tax, the industry was given a break.
Other utilities, such as electric companies, pay levies on their poles and wires.
They even pay on poles shared with the phone companies.
For several years some have said this creates an uneven playing field, with telephone companies, mainly Verizon, getting an edge.
A spokesman for Verizon said repealing the exemption will lead to an increase in phone bills ranging from $1 to $4 a month.
Last year, the House leadership tried to get fellow lawmakers to agree to making the exemption permanent. That idea was rejected in favor of extending the exemption for two years.
House Ways and Means has a bill before it to repeal the exemption. What does the new House leadership think? It looks like the House may be poised to repeal.
"I think there should be a level playing field," House Speaker Doug Scamman said this week. "We’ll see what the committee decides. It’s up to them to do the work."
Repealing what some have termed a "sweetheart" exemption will meet opposition in the Senate. Sen. Robert Boyce of Alton is sponsor of a bill to extend the exemption for another four years.
Sen. Dick Green of Rochester has led a crusade to try and get the repeal through. On the Senate floor last year, Green delivered a Shakespear-esque soliloquy. Without really mixing words, Green said leadership is in the pocket of Verizon. Some believe this cost Green the Senate Finance chair even more than his bashing of the "backroom" education funding deal.
Don’t expect the Senate to give the repeal its blessing.
"If you can go home and tell grandma her bill her bill is going to go up $7 to $10 a month, go for it," House Majority Leader Bob Clegg said this week.
Know when to hold ’em:
Dealings between the House and Senate can be like a poker game. There are bluffs, hidden aces and poker faces, all in the name of pushing an agenda forward.
Wednesday saw the first showdown between the two chambers over cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for retired state and municipal workers, including police, firefighters and teachers.
Behind closed doors before a Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee, some House members say a deal was struck with the Senate to hold off on voting for an increase on COLAs until a firmer grasp of the numbers could be had.
Insiders say the House believes there could be room for a little bigger increase, seeing as the stock market has rebounded. Others say the Senate thinks there isn’t enough breathing room for any increases.
So, Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Morse made a motion to increase COLAs by 1.5 percent for firefighters and 1 percent for everyone else.
This led to an immediate recess and eventual postponement of any decision until this Wednesday.
After the meeting, House Majority Leader Michael O’Neil had a heated exchange with Morse in the bowels of the Legislative Office Building.
O’Neil told Morse the House didn’t appreciate being "blindsided."
Was this a bit of gamesmanship during the first Fiscal meeting of 2005
A new hand will be dealt this Wednesday and expect the police and firefighters to be watching closely.
Movin’ on up
The Jeffersons moved on up to the East Side.
For House Democrats, their "deluxe apartment in the sky" is the third floor of the Statehouse.
Two years ago, the minority party was banished to the first floor.
Well, times have changed and the Dems are back in their old space as of Friday.
The Senate did take over some office space it is still refusing to relinquish, so quarters are a little tight.
Moving in on the first floor will be Bedford Sen. Sheila Roberge.
Also, there is a chance the Governor’s Office of Citizen Services will reclaim the spot the House Dems vacated.
Former Gov. Craig Benson moved his "Office of Customer Service" to the Statehouse Annex across the street.
Same old flag
The yearly attempt to change the state flags will go down in flames on Wednesday.
The House is expected to kill a bill that would put the motto "Live Free or Die" on the flag.
There’s a saying around this Legislature — "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it."
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