Yesterday, the web lit up early (including on my site) with commentary about Amazon.com’s supposed tax deal with the State of California. And then… crickets.
The deal was supposedly hammered out on late Wednesday but no solid details about the controversial plan were released. Representatives on both sides weren’t all that chatty but indicated that the deal would provide for a one year moratorium on collections of sales tax on internet purchases in exchange for Amazon’s promise to drop their efforts to repeal the sales tax. Since then, there’s been little information made public. It’s hard to tell whether that means that the deal has stalled or simply not yet announced.
Here’s why the silence matters: the California legislature, by rule (J.R. 61(a)(14)), has until September 9, 2011 to pass any legislation to be considered for 2011. And then they recess until January 4, 2012. And yes, they did just get back from a month long summer recess; I don’t purport to understand how anything gets done in the state.
At any rate, that means the deadline for hammering something out is today. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) would then have one month – until October 9 – to sign or veto any bill passed and in his possession on or after September 9 (Art. IV, Sec.10(b)(1)).
So today is literally it. I’ll let you know if (and when) I hear something.
