Evening star., 1949-03-18
McGrath' 5 Plan
For D. {. Meets
Praise, Attacks
Reaction Ranges From
Necessary to House
Won't Pass 1T

eTdl granC proposed Dy CHAIRMAN
McGrath of the Senate District
Committee to meet the city's des-
perate financial plight today
stirred both strong support and
sharp criticism.
Wide diversity of comment was
forthcoming from Congressional
leaders concerned with District
affairs on both sides of the
Capitol.
Opinion varied all the way from
absolutely necessary" to 1T will
never pass the House"
The surprising proposal intro
duced yesterday by the Rhode
Island Democrat was the latest
of several efforts to get the Dis
trict out of its financial dilemma
1t followed House rejection of
q combination 2 per cent sales
tax and broadened city income
levy, designed to meet municipal
expenses here in the next fiscal
year.
In addition to the bill for an
&18,600,000 Federal grant, Sena-
tor McNath also introduced a
resolution for study of city fiscal
affairs by the Senate District
Committee, at a cost of 50,000.
Both measures went to the
District Committee for action
Tuesday.
The s1S,6O0,OO0 grant for next
fiscal year only would be in addi-
ton to the $12,000.000 Federal
payment towards city costs al
ready in the city supply bill be-
fore a Senate appropriations sub
committee.
Absolutely necessary was the
comment of Senator O'Conor,
Democrat, of Maryland, member
of the Senate Civil Service Com
mittee. He has been strongly
pushing legislation for pay raises
for city workers and high level
Federal administrators.
"Of course, I will never favor
It," declared Representative Bates,
Republican. of Massachusetts,. He
is the ranking Republican on the
fiscal subcommittee of the House
District Committee. and a cham
pion of the Inflated sales tax.
That would be too great load
on the rest of the country. whose
people are already heavily bur-
dened by taxes" Mr.. Bates de-
clared. 1T would never get
through the House"
Smith Declines Comment.
Representative Smith. Demo-
crat. of Virginia. chairman OF the
House District Fiscal Subcommit-
tee, who was disappointed over
defeat of the sales tax measure.
declined comment on Senator
McGraths proposal. Both he and
Mr.. Bates take the position that
the responsibility for finding new
revenue rests principally on those
who defeated the sales tax.
The group of sales tax oppon-
ents, headed by Representative
Kennedy, Democrat; of Massa-
chusetts, and Representative
Klein, Democrat. of New York.
will hold a strategy meeting Mon
day to discuss plans for meeting
the city deficit. None of the group
was available for comment on the
McGrath proposal early today.
Chairman Mcmillan of the
House District Committee said he
plans to discuss the proposals to-
day with Senator McGrath. Until
he has had an opportunity to 60
over the two features of the Nc
Grath plan, Mr.. Mcmillan said.
he has no comment on their
merits.
Taber Sees palliative"
Representative Taber, Republi-
can. of New York. ranking mi
nority member of the House Ap-
preparations Committee, charged
the McGrath proposal would con-
stitute only palliative" for Dis
trict fiscal Ills. He said he would
not feel justified in voting for it.
Rather. Mr.. Taber said, he would
like to see real estate taxes here
increased.
Chairman Cannon of the House
Appropriations Committee was re-
luctant to comment on the pro-
posed grant but promised to
study it.
He thought however, that the
$50.000 suggested for a new in
vestigation of the city's tax and
fiscal structure might be money
we'll invested.
Senator Hunt, Democrat, of
Wyoming. chairman of the SEN
ate District Fiscal Subcommittee
handling revenue legislation, said
he favors one-year liberal Fed
eral payment to the city. In any
future study of the city fiscal
structure, he said. however, con-
sideration should be given to prop
erty values. not only in nearby
Maryland and Virginia, but also
in the other 46 States of the
Union.
Tax Comparison Made.
District realty taxes, he be-
lieves, should be more like those
levied in the majority of States
rather than like those in the ad-
jacent Jurisdictions.
Meanwhile. a study of compare
tive real estate taxes submitted by
District Assessor Edward A. Dent
to the House District Committee
showed that home owners in the
Capital already pay more realty
taxes than home-owner in Mont
gomery and Prince Georges
Counties. Md, and Arlington
County, Va.
Mr.. Dents figures make it clear
that if taxes are increased in the
nistrjrt tho nictriet bonoe ou,v,or