Tax bill clears state House

There was little debate on the bill itself, which has moved through the House during the first week of the summer legislative session. 

Members did adopt a pair of amendments, one dealing with a technical, page-numbering issue. The other makes clear that automated teller machines, or ATMs, are not separate business locations for the purposes of determining when a bank must pay local privilege license taxes.

Those privilege license taxes are one of the most controversial items in the measure. City governments say larger cities will have to raise millions of dollars worth of property taxes to offset the loss of the ability to levy companies that do business within municipal limits. 

The tax bill was developed in cooperation with the state Senate, which will now have its say on the measure. Ordinarily, that would bode well for quick passage. However, House members dropped a corporate tax break that had been favored by Senate sponsors of the bill.