Following in the footsteps of a handful of other governors, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has indicated that she will take only 55% of the federal economic stimulus money being offered to Alaska. If that sounds like fiscal responsibility, don’t get too excited. Per capita, Alaska already receives more federal funding than any other state in the country, an honor held since 1999.
Included in the rejected funds are $160 million for education (including money for special ed services); $17 million in Department of Labor funds (vocational rehabilitation services, unemployment services, etc.); $9 million for Health and Social Services and about $7 million for Public Safety.
Critics held a protest yesterday to oppose rejection of the funds which Palin announced on Thursday. However, Palin’s budget director, Karen Rehfeld, seemed to contradict the governor, saying that the administration hasn’t yet rejected a single dollar of the stimulus funding.
The governors of Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas have also signaled that they will pass on stimulus money.
On Monday, I was scrambling to get my own corporate tax returns prepared and filed by the end of the business day. I can’t imagine trying to manage them without any power… Yet, that’s exactly what the victims of Hurricane Ike were facing.
Fortunately, the IRS has announced that taxpayers and tax preparers affected by Hurricane Ike will have an extra seven days to file corporate tax returns and third-quarter estimated taxes. Taxpayers directly impacted by the storm will have until midnight on September 22 to file and pay without penalty. Further extensions and additional relief may be granted following an assessment by FEMA.
To indicate to the IRS that you are an affected taxpayer, write “Hurricane Ike” on the top of your return – or use the “disaster” feature on your tax software.
Texas Governor Rick Perry offered Texans affected by Hurricane Ike a new kind of tax break: no hotel taxes.
Governor Perry has suspended hotel taxes for 14 days in response to the mandatory evacuations from Hurricane Ike. The emergency proclamation waived all state, city and county hotel occupancy taxes through September 21st. The waiver is retroactive to September 8th; victims of the hurricane and relief workers can apply for a refund for taxes previously paid.
My thoughts are prayers are with those affected.
(Sorry, and tacky or not, I can’t write a post about Texas without adding at the end… Go Eagles!)
The Texas Entertainment Association (TEA) has announced that adult cabarets (or as most people call them, strip clubs) received notification from the Texas Comptroller that the $5 stripper tax is due despite a court ruling that the tax is unconstitutional.
A Texas judge had ordered that the, “Defendants are permanently enjoined from assessing or collecting the tax imposed by sections 47.051-.056.” However, the Texas Attorney General’s Office filed an appeal on April 7. Letters were subsequently issued that while the appeal was pending, the tax would still be collected.
Hmm. Apparently the State of Texas is desperate for cash. I can’t imagine the lost revenue that would be so great during the appeal that would cause the state to collect it nonetheless. And if the appeal is defeated, what then? Will the state return the taxes? To whom? The tax is to be collected by the clubs from patrons. It would be practically impossible – and unduly burdensome – to return those taxes to patrons.
It’s simply bad policy.
On the other hand, I don’t buy the argument/drama from the clubs that: Cabaret owners may be forced to shut down. In these economically tough times, hard-working taxpayers employed by these legal businesses deserve better than being forced out of gainful employment by elected officials seeking to impose a patently unconstitutional law on an unpopular industry for the purposes of political gain.
I agree that it’s a silly tax. But it’s hardly going to force businesses to close. If you want to go to a strip club, you’re going to a strip club, $5 tax or no. Like most sin taxes, it is a revenue raiser, not a behavioral control.
Lawyers on both sides are getting warmed up. I’ll keep you posted.
(Hat tip: Craig McDaniel)
