Sen. Green opines on killing Hall Tax
NASHVILLE — As one of the final acts of the 109th General Assembly, the Hall Tax on investment and dividend income has been set on a course for regulatory phase-out beginning calendar year 2016 with a final sunset of Jan. 1, 2022 through SB 0047, sponsored by TN Senator Mark Green, MD (R-Clarksville).
“It has been an absolute honor to carry this historic bill and see it to passage,” said Hall, vice chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. “The Hall Income Tax is a jobs-killer and we have just killed the Hall Income Tax. There will be no Hall Tax on the first day of 2022; this is as good as it gets for Tennessee seniors and for businesses who want to invest in Tennessee workers.”
The historic bill codifies the following: The tax rate will be reduced from 6 percent to 5 percent, a 17 percent cut from the total dollars collected by the state for fiscal year 2016.
The intent of the General Assembly in successive years is that the tax on investment and dividend income will be cut 1 percent annually, but is not bound to any specific rate reduction being charged to respond according to the economic health of each fiscal year.
Furthermore, by Jan. 1, 2022, the Hall Income Tax will no longer be collected and will be eliminated as a legal means of taxation in Tennessee. Meaning, it is set to sunset in as the year 2021 sunsets.
“I have written a full repeal of the Hall Income Tax every year I have been in office, “Green said. “With the assistance of my colleagues in the Senate and the House, we have our victory. The Hall Tax will disappear within five years.”
Tennessee will soon join seven other states as completely income tax-free: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.
Bill proposes ensuring Tenn. hospitals are paid fairly
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) joined a bipartisan group last week in introducing legislation to protect hospitals from shrinking Medicare reimbursements that make it harder for them to recruit staff, care for patients, and stay in business.
Tennessee hospitals have lost nearly $99 million since 2011 because of Medicare’s flawed reimbursement formula.
“Like many hospitals, Tennessee hospitals are getting less and less from Medicare, while hospitals in other areas of the country get more and more for the same services, because of a flawed formula,” said Alexander, the chairman of the Senate health committee. “This bill will protect Tennessee hospitals, and others around the country, from shrinking Medicare reimbursements that make it harder for them to recruit skilled doctors and nurses, make payroll, pay bills and care for patients.”
Medicare uses a wage index to calculate the costs of labor associated with hospital services for Medicare patients — so hospitals in areas with a high cost of living get more from Medicare and hospitals in areas with a low cost of living get less. The wage index sets the national average at 1.0 – so a San Jose, Calif., hospital is indexed at about 1.77 and a Johnson City, Tenn., hospital is indexed at about 0.74.
In recent years, Tennessee hospitals have seen drastic decreases in payments as a result of this formula. For example, the Knoxville region saw its AWI decrease from 0.92 to 0.73 between 2000 and 2014.
The Fair Medicare Hospital Payments Act of 2016 (S. 2832) — which is co-sponsored by Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Alexander, Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) — would protect hospitals in states like Tennessee from increasingly lower compensation for the services they provide by establishing a national floor for the Medicare Area Wage Index (AWI), set at 0.874, meaning many Tennessee hospitals would see an increase in their Medicare reimbursements.
SCA calls for an end to religious loophole
Washington, D.C. — The Secular Coalition for America released a statement last week urging Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to sign SB 1761 into law. The bill would make it a felony for parents to withhold life-saving medical care from their children in lieu of prayer or faith healing.
“There no greater abuse of religious freedom than as a justification for endangering a child,” said Larry T. Decker, Executive Director of the SCA. “Religion cannot be allowed to exempt parents from their most basic obligation to ensure the safety and welfare of their children. We implore Governor Haslam to follow the legislature’s lead and close this dangerous legal loophole.”
The Secular Coalition for Tennessee also released a statement applauding the legislature and urging the Governor to sign the bill into law.
“We thank the General Assembly for protecting the children of Tennessee with the passage of Senate Bill 1761. By recognizing that religious beliefs are no excuse for denying medical treatment to a child, Tennessee families will be healthier and justice will be served to those who neglect their children. We now urge Governor Haslam to sign this bill, and for the General Assembly to strike down other religious exemptions putting Tennessee’s children at risk, such as religious exemptions for vaccinations.”
The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and all but one member of the Tennessee Assembly voted in favor of it. According to Children’s Healthcare is a Legal Duty (CHILD), 38 states have legal protections for religiously based medical neglect.
Senate considers energy, water appropriations
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Lamar Alex-ander (R-Tenn.) urged colleagues in the Senate last week to support the fiscal year 2017 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill, saying that he looks forward to “proving that the appropriations process works.”
He said, “It is good news that the first appropriations bill to be considered by the Senate will bring us one step closer to doubling our nation’s energy research and cut wasteful programs. This is exactly the job we were sent here to do: to set the nation’s spending priorities in a responsible way instead of moving from one short-term extension to the next. I hope that the other 11 appropriations bills follow this lead and we have a full appropriations process under regular order. I’m glad the Senate has moved to our bill, and I look forward to a good floor debate, consideration of amendments and final passage.”
