A Citizen’s Guide

From R.A. Dillon, continuing on the amendment watch from Juneau:

Sen. Bert Stedman’s amendment No. 10 would have the tax calculated and assessed monthly. Adopted without objection.

Amendment No. 11, also by Stedman, R-Sitka, would slightly adjust the price trigger for the progressivity surtax. Adopted without objection.

Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage, introduced an amendment that would establish penalties for taxpayers that fail to come within 10 percent of the tax they owe. The amendment failed to pass.

Amendment No. 13 by Sen. Con Bunde, R-Anchorage, and Sen. Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai, removes the retroactive provision of the bill that would have set the effective date at July 1. The amendment is worth about a $450 million to the state in the current fiscal year. The amendment failed by a large margin.

Amendment No. 14 by Sen. Gene Therriault, R-North Pole, would put 50 percent of the revenue from the surtax into the earnings reserve of the permanent fund. Call it the “don’t vote against my dividend” amendment. It failed to pass.