The State House and Senate will be in session this week, with budget negotiations on the front burner. June 30th is the constitutionally-mandated deadline for having a budget in place, although that deadline is usually ignored.
Among the items potentially coming before the House on Monday are amendments added to a bill passed last week by the Finance Committee. The legislation would add a new tax on digital advertising, with the revenue from it estimated at up to $500 million annually. The committee passed the bill on a party line, with 14 Democrats approving and 12 Republicans voting against it.
The measure targets giant online corporations such as Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, making them subject to the state’s five percent Gross Receipts Tax, but Republicans say it violates the state constitution and they fear small businesses would be hurt by the taxes and the added expenses would just be passed on to consumers.
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