To see a reporter trax, click here.
Adding an extra dime to Louisiana Internet users’ bills proved too controversial to pass the Senate when the commerce committee killed House Bill 569 on Tuesday. The bill sought to add a monthly fee for Internet usage to create the “Internet Crimes Investigation Fund” which would support the Attorney General’s Office investigation of crimes such as online child pornography and financial scams. Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said the bill would raise $4 million a year, which would help combat the $11 million cut to his office’s budget. The fund would pay for the staff necessary to fight increasing Internet crimes, he said. Opponents of the bill, including representatives from Internet service providers and anti-tax groups, argued the fee was actually a tax and violated federal law.”Attorney General Caldwell argued this wasn’t a tax because taxes are paid by everyone,” said Patrick Gleason, state affairs manager for Americans for Tax Reform. “But that’s clearly not the case considering there’s alcohol tax, tobacco tax and property tax. The federal law was passed to prevent taxing the Internet because they knew revenue-hungry lawmakers would see the Internet as a cash cow.”Sen. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, proposed amending the bill to make the charge voluntary, with a donation option available on customers’ billing statements, but the committee rejected it with a 3-2 vote. Gleason said voluntary donations would be a step in the right direction, but including it on bills puts Internet companies in charge of collecting and processing the money. In his closing arguments, the bill’s author, Rep. Bodi White, R-Central, criticized the service providers for not providing alternatives. “They did not come to the table or offer any resolution,” White said. “They are making dollars off of every constituent who uses that service.”Although Gov. Bobby Jindal was opposed to HB 569, commerce chairwoman Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans, urged proponents of the bill to seek funding from Jindal’s already strained state spending budget. White said it’s possible that legislation with a similar goal of HB 569 would arise before the session ends June 25. —-Contact Katie Kennedy at [email protected]