Grassley Ltr, Internet Tax S150CHARLES E. GRASSLEY
WASHINGTON., DC 20510-1501
December 3, 2003
FINANCE
Mr. Michael C. Van Milligen
City Manager
The City of Dubuque
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
Dear Mr. Van Milligen:
Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding the
Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act. As your Senator, it is
important for me to hear from you. Please accept my apology for
the delay in my response.
I appreciate your comments regarding S. 150, the Internet Tax
Nondiscrimination Act, and the Alexander-Carper amendment to this
legislation. I understand your concerns that a ban on taxation
of internet access will harm state revenues and ultimately,
Iowa's K-12 schools.
You may be pleased to learn that there are ongoing negotiations
between all interested Senators, including Senator Alexander and
Senator Carper, to try and meet the concerns of the states while
at the same time balancing the concerns of consumers in keeping
the internet tax free.
I also supported a proposed manager's amendment to S. 150, that
would take steps to address state concerns. Although this
amendment would not do all that the states desire, it represents
a significant improvement over the bill reported out of the
Senate Committee on Commerce.
In addition, as Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I have
tried to determine the impact of S. 150 on states' revenues and
find ways to limit the loss of this revenue by initiating contact
with the Iowa Department of Revenue.
I should also add that
I understand your concerns about
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recent education funding cuts in Iowa. I know that the state
goverranent has been faced with some tough decisions as the result
of a decline in revenues at the state level and I certainly
appreciate the impact this is having on our schools.
While federal funding for education has grown dramatically in the
last few years, with an overall increase of 30.4% for k-12
education since fiscal year 2001, and even larger increases for
specific programs like Title I and teacher quality grants,
schools will continue to rely primarily on funding from the state
and local communities to make ends meet. Nevertheless, when
updated Census data for Iowa threatened to reduce Iowa's Title I
allocation, I worked to provide additional resources for Iowa
schools and you can be sure that I will continue to do everything
I can to see that Iowa's schools have the resources necessary to
maintain the high quality educational services that Iowans
expect.
You can also be sure that as the Senate proceeds with
negotiations on the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act, and the
important task of balancing tax free internet access while
ensuring that current state taxing authority of
telecommunications is not limited, I will keep the thoughts and
concerns of all Iowans in mind.
Again, thank you for contacting me. I appreciate hearing your
views and urge you to keep in touch.
Sincerely,
CEG/mz