Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Why we should be thankful that Wilder's gone
Bill Hobbs tells us why it's important that Ron Ramsey is now the State Senate Speaker. To wit:
A single line in today's Nashville City Paper story about the end of Sen. John Wilder's long tenure as Speaker of the state Senate underscores why it is so important:
For the first time in memory, the Republicans will have a majority on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, giving them more influence on how the state spends, or doesn't spend, its money.
And more influence on how the state taxes the citizenry, too. With Gov. Phil Bredesen now saying he wants to increase the state's cigarette tax to pay for an as-yet unspecified new program - rather than couple it with a decrease in the state's sales tax on groceries, control of the Finance committee gives Republicans the leverage to force a food tax decrease in return for the cigarette tax increase, if they so chose.
Beyond the cigarette tax/food tax debate, it's likely now that the Senate Finance Committee will no longer be the roadblock to a constitutional amendment to cap the annual growth of the state budget and return surplus revenue to the people, too. One assumes that new Speaker Ron Ramsey won't re-appoint state Sen. Doug Henry, the roadblock to that reform, to chair the committee. Things just got a lot more interesting at Legislative Plaza.
A single line in today's Nashville City Paper story about the end of Sen. John Wilder's long tenure as Speaker of the state Senate underscores why it is so important:
For the first time in memory, the Republicans will have a majority on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, giving them more influence on how the state spends, or doesn't spend, its money.
And more influence on how the state taxes the citizenry, too. With Gov. Phil Bredesen now saying he wants to increase the state's cigarette tax to pay for an as-yet unspecified new program - rather than couple it with a decrease in the state's sales tax on groceries, control of the Finance committee gives Republicans the leverage to force a food tax decrease in return for the cigarette tax increase, if they so chose.
Beyond the cigarette tax/food tax debate, it's likely now that the Senate Finance Committee will no longer be the roadblock to a constitutional amendment to cap the annual growth of the state budget and return surplus revenue to the people, too. One assumes that new Speaker Ron Ramsey won't re-appoint state Sen. Doug Henry, the roadblock to that reform, to chair the committee. Things just got a lot more interesting at Legislative Plaza.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, January 10, 2007 
