Gov. Jim Pillen’s property tax plan limped forward Tuesday after its chief sponsor agreed to strip out its most controversial component: a proposed 1-cent increase in state sales taxes.
The bill advanced from first-round debate, 28-12, after lawmakers invoked cloture to shut off a filibuster.
State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, the chief sponsor of the plan, said that Legislative Bill 388 didn’t have the votes to advance if it included the sales tax increase, which has been blasted as the biggest tax hike in state history by conservative groups and as a “tax shift” that didn’t reduce taxes by some business organizations.
