Senate committee rejects bill to let legislators request limited business tax-payment reports

The Senate Revenue & Tax Committee on an unspecified date voted down Senate Bill 7, which would have allowed members of the General Assembly to request limited sales-and-use tax-payment reports from the Department of Finance and Administration.

Senator Penzo, who introduced the bill, said the change would mirror existing authority held by mayors and county judges and would let lawmakers answer constituent questions about whether a named business paid sales tax during a specific period. "I just wanted us to have the ability as legislators to be able to do the same thing," Penzo said. He said the reports would include only a company name and primary corporate address and would indicate only whether taxes were paid during the requested period, not dollar amounts. He used Dollar General as an example of how an out-of-state corporate address might appear on the report.

Committee members pressing for the measure said local governments and local stakeholders have at times been unable to determine who is paying taxes in their communities and that even a binary indicator (paid/not paid) could help in negotiations or oversight. Senator Caldwell described trying to determine whether an RV park was collecting and remitting sales tax and said he "could not get that information from DFNA."

Opponents argued the change invited a punitive posture by lawmakers toward businesses and crossed a line between oversight and enforcement. Senator Dismay said he was "leery of giving us the authority to try to be an enforcer of any kind as it relates to businesses," adding that the committee should avoid becoming the "watch dog" over local businesses. Several members raised concerns that elected officials could use the data for political or punitive ends rather than for narrow constituent-service purposes.

The committee considered an amendment that would add cosponsors and otherwise clarified that the request authority would be limited to sales-and-use tax records. A motion to give the bill "do pass as amended" was made on the floor of the committee by Senator Caldwell and seconded by Senator Petty. After discussion and a voice vote, the motion failed.

The committee record does not include a roll-call tally in the transcript; the committee chair announced, "The motion fails."