Evening star., 1937-04-07
TAX BILLS STUDY
TOMORROW
IN SUBCOMMITTEE
Fund for Special Adviser
First Problem Before
Kennedy Group.
THOROUGH SURVEY HELD
NEED IN D. C. PROGRAM
Maryland Representative to De-
eide by Tomorrow Whether
to Keep Craftsmanship.
BY ia .ES E. CHINN.

A special subcommittee of the House
District Committee made preparations
today to plunge into an exhaustive
study of the Collins tax increase bills.
Chairman Kennedy called meeting
at 1890 am. tomorrow for the two
fold purpose of mapping out program
of procedure and to determine whether
the Federal or District Governments
should bear the expense of the job.
A fund of $4,000 will be needed by
the subcommittee, according to Ken
nedy, TO employ special adviser and
a staff Of assistants to do all the pre-
liminary work.
II the Federal Government pay the
bill, Kennedy pointed out, the $4,000
probably can be appropriated ou Of
the contingent fund of the House and
made available without delay. How
ever, should the subcommittee decide
to saddle the expense on the District,
efforts will be made to have the item
included in the 1898 supply bill now
before the District subcommittea of the
Senate Appropriation Committee.
Adviser Held Essential.
Kennedy pointed out that an adviser
to the subcommittee is essential if a
thorough study is to be made Of the
merit of the various tax bills as we'll
as the proposed reorganization of the
District Government. He plans to give
the job to William A. Roberts, former
peoples counsel.
The subcommittee was created origi-
nally to analyze the Jacobs fiscal rela-
tlonS plan which has been scrapped as
a result of the action of the House in
continuing the s5O0O.000 lump-sum
Federal payment toward District ex-
penses for the coming fiscal year.
Since the Jacobs report recommended
new tax program to offset the antici-
pated deficit in District revenues in the
1888 fiscal year, as well as reorganiza-
ton Of the municipal government in
the interest of efficiency and economy,
the subcommittee will devote its atten-
ton chiefly to these two proposals.
Some of the Collins tax bills follow
so closely proposals in the Jacobs re-
port for raising additional revenue
that all the measures making up the
new program have been referred to
the subcommittee.
To Decide on Chairmanship.
Kennedy also plans to reach a def
mite decision before the meeting TO-
morrow on whether to continue as
the subcommittee chairman or relin-
quish the assignment to Representa-
tive Nichols, Democrat, of Oklahoma.
Engrossed in the work of the Mer-
chant Marine Committee and the
Claims Committee, of which he Is
! chairman, Kennedy feels he will not
have sufficient time to devote to the
impending study of the tax bills, as
we'll as the proposed reorganization
of the District government
Aside from Kennedy and Nichols,
the subcommittee is composed of Rep
resentatives McGehee of Mississippi
and Allen of Delaware, Democrats,
and Diksen of Illinois and Cole of
New York, Republicans.
Kennedy and Nichols were chair
men of the two subcommittee created
early in the present session of Con-
gress to study the Nichols report.
These subcommittee we're dissolved
after two joint hearings and the new
subcommittee created.
Nichols is familiar with the details
of the Jacobs report and believes it
has some good features" which should
be considered by the new subcom-
mittee. He agrees with Kennedy, how
ever that no new tax legislation
should be enacted with a view to
building up surplus of District reve-
nues, but that the Collins program
should be shaved down