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Senate Leaders Unsure About Income Tax Amendment

401k via Flickr

 

The senate is considering a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar a personal income tax.

The amendment passed the house but is facing head-winds in the Senate.

Top Senate Republicans seemed skeptical during a hearing on the income tax ban.

They say they’re focused on putting an education funding constitutional amendment before the voters next fall.

Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley put House Majority Leader DJ Bettencourt on the defensive, asking if he thought the House is overwhelming the public with amendments.

Bettencourt: That is the consensus, if you put too many constitutional amendments on the ballot, it frightens the public, and it frightens the public in such a way that they just vote no. I think three amendments is responsible, but no more.

Bettencourt wish list includes education funding, a tax cap, and this measure.

Senate President Peter Bragdon had his own concerns about the amendment.

He fears it could leave the door open to tax corporations, and that’s the wrong message to send to business.

The Senate President says this amendment is not a top priority.

Sam Evans-Brown has been working for New Hampshire Public Radio since 2010, when he began as a freelancer. He shifted gears in 2016 and began producing Outside/In, a podcast and radio show about “the natural world and how we use it.” His work has won him several awards, including two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, one national Murrow, and the Overseas Press Club of America's award for best environmental reporting in any medium. He studied Politics and Spanish at Bates College, and before reporting was variously employed as a Spanish teacher, farmer, bicycle mechanic, ski coach, research assistant, a wilderness trip leader and a technical supporter.
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