Henderson daily dispatch., 1937-02-22

at least $1,5o0,OOO out of balance
with the appropriations bill, those
who have been studying the two bills
over the weekend agree. And II the
Senate continues in the direction 1t
was headed last week when Senator
E. v. Webb, chairman of the Senate
Finance Committee, adjourned hur-
riedly until Monday afternoon, to pre-
vent the further cutting of the reye-
nue. bill, the prospects are that several
million dollars more in revenue will
be removed from it. Indications late
Friday afternoon were that the Sen
ate was on the verge of adopting
two per cent sales tax rate instead of
the three per cent rate enacted by
the House, which would reduce the
revenue from the bill by another L.
100000 year and throw the bill 49,
100000 q year out of balance. It is al
so being predicted that the gasoline
and oil companies are sure of getting
the chain filling station tax either re-
moved or lowered, which will reduce
the revenue from the bill by at least
another $l,5O0,000 a year and throw it
some $4,5O0000 a year out of balance.
Buildings Tax Blamed
What threw the revenue and appro-
priations bill SO badly out CT balance
was the removal by the Senate of the
three per cent sales tax on building
materials, as imposed by the House.
although it restored the sales tax on
meals to make up for part of this loss
But Commissioner of Revenue Max
well estimated that the tax on build
ing materials would bring in at least
$l5OO,OOO and the sales tax on meals
weuld yield only about $625,000 So
with the bill already about $3.50, 900 out
OF balance as passed by the House,
the prevailing belief is that it is cas-
ly $l,5O0,OOO out of balance now.
AS amendment after amendment
was adopted Friday and the revenue
from the bill battered down lower and
lower, veteran of numerous other
sessions went to Chairman Webb of
the finance committee and urged him
10 move for an adjournment if he
wanted to have any bill left at all.
FOR the members of the Senate were
t.red and "edgy" and had gotten to
the point where they didn't give a
Darn whether the bills balanced or
not-and Senator w. I. Halstead. of
Elizabeth City, was hammering AWAY
harder for his amendment to reduce
the sales tax to two per cent. The
nope is mat today, after two days of
rest, the senators will be able to
tnlnk and see things mare clearly and
realize that they must find a dollar of
new revenue for every dollar of reve-
nue. they remove from the money bill
Reasons for insurgency
Three principal reasons are given
Tor the tendency of the Senate tn die
regard the revenue bill as passed nv
Inc House, tear 1t to pieces and re-
write 1t. One is the feeling of suner-
iority on the part of the Senate nc
compared with the House. since there
is no doubt that senator's as rule
regard themselves as feeling very sun
erior to House members-and this
feeling is deliberately ENCOURAGED
and fed by the lobbyists. A second
reason is that few of the senator's
follow the proceedings of the House
or of the finance committees, with the
result that they know very little about
what has already been done or wha,
ideas or plans have already been pre-.
sented and discarded AS a result
most of the steps already taken in
the finance committees and in the
House have to be retraced all over
again in the Senate.
A third reason, in this session espe.
cially, is the lack of leadership in the