Capital Gains Tax Increase And A New Carbon Tax May Not Make The Cut … With all 76 members of the Legislature up for reelection, lawmakers are expected to shy away from those potentially controversial tax measures this year.
Tax increase proposals have become pretty scarce at the State Capitol by the midpoint of this election-year session, and even the tax bills that made it this far may be endangered.
The reasons for that are partly political — every member of the state House and Senate must stand for reelection this year if they want to remain in office — and partly because the state is sitting on a mammoth cash surplus that makes it pretty tough to justify any kind of tax increase right now.
The two major tax bills that are still moving would increase the maximum state capital gains tax rate, and impose a new “carbon tax” on consumption of fossil fuels including gasoline and jet fuel. Lawmakers say they are keeping those bills moving to allow further discussion, but acknowledge this is an awkward time to boost taxes.
