Horsford opposes the Modified Business Tax?
From a press release by Right Pride:
Right Pride calls on State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford to back up comments with actionsI haven't been able to find the release on Right Pride's website, but if I do, I'll post a link. Also, I've contact Sen. Horsford for comment. I will post his response as soon as and if I get it.
Mark Ciavola, President "Given Senator Horsford's newfound desire to protect Nevada business owners from oppressive taxation, Right Pride calls on Senator Horsford to sponsor and shepherd through a bill in the 2011 legislative session to repeal the modified business tax."
(Las Vegas, NV) - Today, Right Pride called on State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford to back up comments he made at a Lambda Business & Professional Association luncheon on Wednesday concerning Nevada's modified business tax. During an election forum, Sen. Horsford blamed Republicans for implementing the state's tax in 2003, expressing opposition to it on the grounds that it taxes businesses regardless of their ability to pay. [Emphasis added] The tax was roughly doubled during the 2009 legislative session as part of the largest single-session tax increase in Nevada's history, pushed through by Democrats including Horsford.
"We support Senator Horsford's new position on the modified business tax," said Mark Ciavola, president of Right Pride, Nevada's only organization representing gay conservatives and their allies. "Continuing to target businesses with new taxes will stunt our economic recovery by preventing business owners from putting Nevadans back to work."
Senator Horsford, speaking to an audience of gay and lesbian business owners, also denied that he sponsored a bill (SB 432) designed to ensure Nevada is prepared to implement a net profits tax, business transaction tax or any alternative business tax, which now sits in the Committee on Finance.
"Given Senator Horsford's newfound desire to protect Nevada business owners from oppressive taxation, Right Pride calls on Senator Horsford to sponsor and shepherd through a bill in the 2011 legislative session to repeal the modified business tax," Ciavola concluded.
This could be great news for taxpayers, because Sen. Horsford is exactly right that the modified business tax is terrible for businesses - it's essentially a payroll tax and it punishes business that seek to add workers or increase their pay.
Unfortunately, based on his past actions, Sen. Horsford is likely to want to replace the modified business tax with a corporate income tax. As NPRI and the Tax Foundation have pointed out, however, a corporate income tax is the most volatile of the state taxes and will exacerbate Nevada's boom-and-bust cycle.
Or Sen. Horsford could simply have been posturing in front of business owners who know first hand about the destructive power of taxes.
For the sake of Nevada's taxpayers and his own integrity, let's hope Sen. Horsford really has seen the light on the destructive impact of the Modified Business Tax.
