Evening star., 1937-07-26
D. c. HEADS PARLEY
WITH CONFEREES
ON LOCAL TAX BILL
Prospects for Other Meas.
ures Fade as House Can.
GELS District Day.
COMMISSIONERS PLAN
ATTACK ON LAND LEVY
Resolution for Temporary Loan
Must Now Wait Until August
8 for Action.
BACKGROUND

BACKGROUND
In face OF deficit of about 7.00O,-
o00 looming for present fiscal uear.
congress decided to impose nep
tdIes on District residents rather
man increase Federal contribution
TO support OF Nations CAPITAL,
House passed tar measure manu-
nee6s ago: last reek Senate pushed
through bill. Many important dit-
1erences indicate lengthy confer
ence consideration.
Efforts to whip together mutually
satisfactory revenue bill for the Dis
trlct were ready to begin in earnest
thls afternoon with the District Com
mlSloners scheduled to go into ses-
SION with House and Senate conferees.
but prospects of other desired legisla-
ton for the Capital were dimmed
Vhen House leaders decided to cancel
the District day scheduled for TODAY
With the House and Senate tax bills
widely divergent in character, the
commissioners were planning to direct
their first opposition to the l per cent
land tax provision which the Senate
inserted Favoring rather some sort
of business privilege tax, the Commits
sloners are bearing statistics in sup
port of their contention that the land
tax would force local property owners
to bear 70 per cent of the impending
deficit.
The action of canceling today's pro-
gram in the House means that four
District bills on the calendar must
await consideration until the next
scheduled District day. August 9. if
Congress does not adjourn in the
meantime.
Loan Bill Delayed.
The principal measure on the Dis
trlct calendar would authorize the
Commissioners to borrow Federal funds
to tide the municipal government over
It's prospective period of insolvency
between August l and October l Ma
1orlty Leader Rayburn pointed out
similar loan authorization is contained
In the District tax bill now in confer
ence, and there is no necessity of sep
arate action on the loan measure.
The three other District bills on
which action was delayed were de-
signed to amend and liberalize the
liquor control act, license and control
BARRIERS and to provide stricter regula-
ton OF adoption proceedings.
The principal alteration in the
liquor control act would permit the
sale of hard liquor by the drink over
bona fide lunch counters. Another is
intended to stop the flow of direct-to-
consumer taxfree liquor into the
District.
The House named as its conferees
Chairman Palmisano of the District
Committee and the following mem
bers of that group: Representatives
Kennedy of Maryland and Nichols of
Oklahoma, Democrats. and Dirksen
of Illinois and Short of Missouri, Re-
publicans, Kennedy, Nichols and
Dirksen were members of the special
subcommittee which framed the origi-
nal tax bill.
Senate Asks Farley.
The Senate named its conferees last
week
A few minutes after the House con-
vened at noon the Senate sent formal
word of its passage of the tax bill last
week and requested q conference.
Action on this request was delayed
for 40 minutes, however, by roll call
OF the House forced on point of no
quorum, raised by Minority Leader
Smell.
Senator King said he is optimistic
over the prospects of the conferees
reaching an early agreement on con-
troversial provisions of the tax bill,
which has been in dispute since last
March.
The House conferees are expected to
Insist on inclusion of business priv
ilege tax in the bill. This provision
was approved in the House bill, but was
eliminated by the Senate.
The Commissioners are prepared to
argue, it was learned, that an increase
in the real estate tax from S1.5O to at
least Sl,70 seems inevitable and it
would be unfair in the face of this to
saddle property owners with an addi-
tional l per cent tax on their land.
The Commissioners have pointed out
that taxes from real estate already
constitute so per cent of the city's gen.
eral revenues and the increase pro-
posed by the Senate would add an
additional 10 per cent to this burden.