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E-TAG-ing Taxes In Texas
The Texas comptroller's E-commerce and Technology Advisory Group (E-TAG) is about to send Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander, R, a set of recommendations on tax policy affecting the Internet and technology industries.
The E-TAG group, formed by Rylander a year ago, includes representatives from the business sector — from Internet service providers to telecommunications officials and bricks-and-mortar retailers. The group's recommendations on tax policy would not only "make our state more Internet friendly but preserve a level playing field for all retailers," Deputy Comptroller Billy Hamilton said in an interview.
E-TAG will recommend that Texas participate in the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP), which it actually did in November. Before then, Texas was just an observer of the SSTP, which consists of about 30 states and is designed to simplify states' sales tax systems in an effort to incorporate the Internet into commerce transactions. E-TAG also will recommend that tax policy on Internet-based retail sales be "consistent" and non-discriminatory.
In addition, the group will recommend that information and data-processing services phase out taxes by another 20 percent, and it will suggest the extension of investment tax credits to telecommunications companies serving "strategic investment areas" that are characterized by their rural nature, low income and high unemployment.
"The idea," Hamilton said, "is to provide an incentive for those businesses to bring broadband into rural areas of the state at a more rapid pace than they would otherwise. ... Things are moving so fast in this area, if they don't do something to help those areas along, they may be left behind."
Hamilton said Rylander already has agreed to suggest that the state legislature adopt the E-TAG recommendations. He forecasted legislative action in the next session, which convenes in January. Hamilton said many lawmakers have voiced interest in E-TAG's recommendations, which have a price tag of about $142 million over two years. "The committee was trying to be mindful of not biting off more than the legislature might be willing to chew," Hamilton said.
E-commerce Council Meets In Las Vegas
The National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council (NECCC) held its annual working-group meeting in Las Vegas last week, and e-procurement and funding, e-financial transactions, integration of portals within governments and institutions, and privacy topped the agenda.
More than 500 attendees, mainly state government officials and employees, focused on e-commerce and e-government issues at the event, which featured more than 90 speakers, presenters and moderators.
"States are realizing that this [e-government] is turning into almost a critical success factor — for states to provide their services online," said NECCC Director Brandon Lenoir. "If you don't have the infrastructure to provide the resources, private industry won't move in."
Lenoir cited computer privacy and security as two issues that continue to gain importance. Given the fiasco in Florida over ballot recounts to determine whether Vice President Al Gore or Texas Gov. George W. Bush would be the next president, the NECCC also is examining how governments can remedy similar situations in the future.
"Obviously, electronic voting was thrust into the headlines this year," Lenoir said. "This is an issue we're thinking of taking up, from the technical standpoint, not the policy end."
Texas Department of Information Resources Director Carolyn Purcell, the incoming chairwoman of the NECCC board, cited the expansion of Internet portals and service and product delivery via the Web as an area that conference attendees may pursue. They also have an interest in authentication techniques for digital signatures and computer security.
"I think we'll get more definitive about security and statewide issues," she said, adding that state governments are trying their best to implement broad digital-signatures legislation that is interoperable with the business sector. "It is not a trivial undertaking to administer such a program so broadly."
Verizon Drops Bay State Long-Distance Bid
Verizon said Monday that it is withdrawing its bid to sell long-distance telephone service in Massachusetts after concerns about its high-speed Internet service overshadowed the company's emergence into the market.
Verizon had to pass a 14-point federal checklist to prove that its local loop was open to competitors before the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy (DTE) would approved its entrance into the state's $2 billion long-distance market. The DTE recommended to the Federal Communications Commission that the company's application be approved, despite the criticism of Attorney General Tom Reilly, D.
But the Justice Department in October raised concerns that Verizon was not opening its digital subscriber lines to competitors in Massachusetts, and on Monday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard — facing a Thursday deadline to rule on Verizon's application — issued a statement saying the company needed to address some issues. "The commission's primary and steadfast objective in evaluating Bell operating-company long-distance applications is to ensure that new competitors have meaningful opportunities to compete in local markets," Kennard said. "Verizon came close to meeting this standard in Massachusetts."
Verizon officials said they would re-file another bid after seeking additional comment. The Justice Department would consider that application, and the FCC would have 90 days to act.
Help Arrives In Boise
Small businesses in Idaho now have a new tool for getting started. The Idaho Small-business Solutions Web site, an interactive site with information about local, state and federal regulations that apply to Idaho businesses, links business owners to information on reporting requirements, forms, fees and other information.
"Government should offer assistance, not resistance to business owners looking to grow in our economy," Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, R, said in a statement.
The Reducing Idaho's Bureaucracy group developed the site, and it will be maintained by the Idaho Small Business Development Center at Boise State University.
Connecticut Awards Tech Scholarships
Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, R, and University of Connecticut President Philip Austin last week announced the first recipients of the Connecticut Innovations Technology Scholar Awards program.
The program — announced by Rowland in January — combines scholarships, internships and leadership training to support the state's science and technology-based workforce needs. It encourages students to attend colleges within the state and then to work at science and technology companies there upon graduation.
"The scholarship program helps address the critical need to educate and retain a workforce of technology experts to support Connecticut's new, knowledge-based economy," Rowland said. "The best students can go anywhere in the world. We want them to choose Connecticut."
The program chose 40 scholars from colleges across the state. Each student is eligible for $12,000 in scholarships toward their undergraduate degrees. Beginning in spring 2001, recipients will be chosen from the ranks of high-school seniors, and they will have to study science or technology within a state school to be eligible.
- by Liza Porteus
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