Policy Documents

Review of Senate Bill 1811

Talmadge Heflin and Bill Peacock –
June 1, 2011
Click to read the full text of this document
102.85 KB

 

Last weekend, the Texas House of Representatives passed an amended version of Senate Bill 1811, a fi scal matters bill that is expected to generate billions in “non-tax” revenue to help fund the state’s 2012-13 budget. While the bill itself was somewhat controversial, much of the debate surrounding SB 1811 centered on the 95 amendments off ered on the bill during floor debate, many of which were adopted.

To help the conferees, the public, and other interested parties get a better sense of what is in the bill, the Foundation below offers a brief overview of SB 1811, some of its adopted amendments, and some potential conference report provisions with the most significance.

Tax Increase Alert

Recently, conferees for SB 1811 adopted a provision to reduce the cigarette stamp discount from 3 percent to 2 percent. The discount is provided to distributors to cover the cost of administrating a costly and time-consuming tax on behalf of the state. By reducing the cigarette tax distributors’ discount, lawmakers are raising taxes on these businesses.

 

To read the full article go to Texas Public Policy Foundation