One place that state House Democrats found revenues—$20 million worth—to help plug the $2.8 billion budget shortfall was by upping the B&O tax rate from 1.5 percent to 2 percent on certain professional businesses categories like lawyers, accountants, agents, marketing, and management consultants.
However, it took a lefty lobbyist to come forward and point out that lobbyists—a job title initially included in the tax hike—had been pulled out. House Finance staff confirmed for PubliCola that indeed, lobbyists—initially on the list—been taken out along with the broad category of “Advertising.”
“I didn’t pull out lobbyists on purpose,” says House Finance Chair Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48).
In going through the broader categories of job types and some sub categories—like real estate agents and architects, who Hunter felt didn’t need to take another hit in the current bad housing market—he says lobbyists were inadvertently spared.
Would he put them back in?
“It’s too delicious to not do that politically,” Hunter joked, but then said he would have to review it.
