House circles state income tax amendments amid questions about rural impacts

Representative Stevie Lisonbee presented House Bill 60 as a cleanup package based on state tax commission recommendations, saying it clarifies data access for the Department of Workforce Services, requires certain filing for payment settlement entities, clarifies commercial energy system definitions and removes obsolete enterprise-zone language. "This was a bill that came from the interim revenue and taxation committee," Lisonbee said, and he summarized the technical changes to the code.

Representative Walter urged a pause and moved to circle the bill, citing concerns about potential impacts on rural communities from changes to enterprise-zone tax-credit language and requesting time "to verify" how the credit is working and to resolve issues. Walter said the committee needed a day or two to ensure rural impacts were properly understood. Representative Lisonbee and others noted that removing expired enterprise-zone language does not itself reinstate credits and that adding new credits would require a separate bill and fiscal note. The motion to circle HB 60 passed by voice vote, and the bill was circled for further consideration.