AGAINST HB 1135
Remarks Prepared for the
Maryland General Assembly
Ways and Means Commmitteee
THE MARYLAND TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION, INC. - - -
"ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM ASSESSMENT" IS AN ENEMY OF JOBS

March 9, 2005

Madame chairman, members of the Ways and Means Committee:

My name is Dee Hodges, and I am president of the Maryland Taxpayers Association, Inc. MTA is the Free State's statewide, volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan voice for Maryland taxpayers.
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MTA strongly urges the Ways and Means Committee to vote against the Alternative Minimum Assessment.

This measure would burden the Maryland economy with over a half-billion dollars in new taxes from fiscal years 2007 through 2010. The 2004 General Assembly approved of $2.3 billion (totaled over five fiscal years) in new taxes, and taxes disguised as "fees."

In our view, most of this was a bipartisan failure.

The fiscal note accompanying this measure cites the New Jersey experience with this ill-conceived scheme.

According to the non-partisan Tax Foundation, New Jersey's corporate income tax rate and collections are among the nation's highest.

New Jersey ranks 34th on the Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Ranking.

By way of comparison, Virginia ranks 12th, Delaware 18th, Maryland 21st, and Pennsylvania 22nd. The most business friendly states are South Dakota, Florida, Alaska, and Texas ranking first through fourth respectively.

Tax competition between the states of our Federal Union is essential to our prosperity. Maryland would place itself at a disadvantage in this prosperity race by enacting an Alternative Minimum Assessment.

For all these reasons, MTA emphatically urges a vote against the Alternative Minimum Assessment.