taxes

A legislator wants to get money to oil boom impacted counties faster. The money could be used to for infrastructure projects, schools, or public safety.

If enacted, the bill directs the department of commerce to compare the current amount of oil and natural gas production taxes collected against the average of those taxes collected over the past four years.

If the current amount exceeds that four year average, then 70% of the excess would be used for oil impacted projects.

Montana lawmakers are considering whether to approve a one-time only tax cut or a slight reduction across all income tax brackets.

The two tax bills were heard Monday before the House Taxation Committee. From Helena, Yellowstone Public Radio’s Jackie Yamanaka has more.

Lawmakers are considering a bill (HB154) that would have an interim legislative committee review 25 individual income tax breaks. That panel would then recommend to future legislatures whether to continue those tax breaks.

Here are some topics we’re sure to see from this year’s state legislative session starting on Jan. 5th.

Medicaid Expansion

Governor Steve Bullock is still looking to get health care for the state’s 70,000 lowest-income members. Last session, he tried to expand Medicaid, but Republican members blocked it.

This time, however, he’ll be promoting something called “Healthy Montana,” which is an alternative meant to use federal dollars to contract with a private insurer for negotiated rates.  

Attorney General Tim Fox

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Amanda Curtis was in Missoula yesterday presenting a six-point-plan that she says would help Montanans struggling with student debt.

After her prepared remarks, Curtis spoke with Edward O'Brien about a few topics including conservative criticism of her family's association with an organization some say has radical leanings.
First though, Curtis offers her assessment of the campaign-building effort:

Some residents in the town of Wolf Creek are looking to change their tiny hamlet north of Helena into a resort. Or, at least, they are hoping to set up a resort tax.

Wolf Creek area resident Pat Hunter said the community needs extra money to clean up groundwater.

“The people in Wolf Creek would not be asking for a resort tax if they weren’t faced with the burden of putting in a sewer system that, quite frankly, they can’t afford,” Hunter said.

Hunter predicts the three percent resort tax would earn the community about $30 thousand dollars a year.

US Sen. Max Baucus hashed out ideas for federal tax reform Wednesday with a council of Montanans representing a number of different industries. The Democratic leader of the powerful Senate Finance Committee is making broad tax overhaul a major priority before leaving office in 2014.

The federal tax code has not been overhauled since 1986. Baucus said about 15,000 changes have been made to the code since that time, making it overly-complex and causing the US to lose some of its competitive edge in a global marketplace.

The "Marketplace Fairness Act" - better known as the "Internet Sales Tax" bill -  recently passed the U.S. Senate without the help of Montana Democrats Max Baucus and Jon Tester.
      The proposal will soon go before the U-S House where it's widely expected to face a more skeptical reception. Montana Republican Representative Steve Daines has already gone on the record opposing the measure. 

If implemented, it would require states to force e-commerce retailers in other states to collect sales taxes for them.