Gov. Bill Ritter today signed nine pieces of legislation that suspend or eliminate several special tax breaks in order to help balance the state's budget by generating $15.6 million in revenue this fiscal year and $132.6 million next fiscal year. The Governor will hold a media availability in his office at 3:45 p.m. today to discuss the bills with reporters.
"Over the past 18 months, we have cut spending and closed shortfalls of $2.2 billion, while also addressing a $1.3 billion shortfall in the next fiscal year and preparing for even more cuts in the fiscal year after that," Gov. Ritter said. "We have taken a balanced approach to keeping the budget balanced. We have asked everyone – government agencies, state workers, nonprofits, medical providers, senior citizens, schools, colleges, the conservation community and businesses – to share in the burden and share in the solutions so that no one group is unfairly or unduly impacted.
"Signing these bills was not something I wanted to do," Gov. Ritter said. "But it was something that was necessary in order to keep the budget balanced and to continue positioning
Gov. Ritter signed the following bills today:
House Bill 1189, Eliminate Sales Tax Exemption for Direct Mail
House Bill 1190, Suspend Industrial Fuel Sales and Use Tax
House Bill 1191, Eliminate Candy and Soda Sales Tax Exemption
House Bill 1192, Repeal Sales and Use Tax of Standardized Software
House Bill 1193, Sales Tax Out-of-State Retailers
House Bill 1194, Eliminate Non-Essential Articles Sales Tax Exemption
House Bill 1195, Suspend Ag Sales & Use Tax Exemption
House Bill 1196, Income Tax Credit Vehicles Using Alternative Fuels
House Bill 1199, Limit the Net Operating Loss Deduction Temporary Limit
Two additional bills are pending:
House Bill 1197, Reduce Conservation Easement Cap Amount
House Bill 1200, Limit Enterprise Zone Investment Tax Credit
