WASHINGTON, DC — Although the temptation to cook up new ways to tax Americans is difficult for most lawmakers to resist, the House showed self-restraint today, extending the moratorium on internet access taxes for another seven years in an impressive 402 – 0 vote. Those fearful that the previous moratorium’s expiration in less than two days might come and go without seeing an extension, were able to draw a sigh of relief – but must also face the fact that the issue will have to be addressed yet again in seven years.
“Seven years is better than nothing,” Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) observed pragmatically on the House floor, “and that’s what we’re doing today.”
Others are doing more, however. The ban is already longer than the four years initially proposed, and a bill to make the moratorium permanent currently has 238 House co-sponsors, which is more than a member majority.
Although both the House and Senate support the idea of a tax-free internet, the combined popularity of its services and the government’s likely dire financial future convinced legislators that a compromise was necessary.
“The implications could be pretty severe down the road if they got that wrong,” David Quam, director of federal relations with the National Governors Association told the Associated Press. “It’s actually a decent compromise that state and local governments and industry helped craft.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) pushed changes to the bill, making it specifically exempt e-mail and instant messaging services from taxation when they “are provided independently or not packaged with Internet access.”
Other results of the extension are an exemption of some states that approved internet access taxes prior to the original moratorium, and prevents state and local governments from taxing users on anything other than simple access to the internet.
The compromise bill, supported by state and local governments, businesses, and labor unions now moves to President George Bush’s office for possible signature into law.
