The House Finance Committee voted down HB315, the “Taxpayer Information Act.” The bill would have required any government to include the current interest rate taxpayers would pay on any borrowing they were asked to approve in a referendum.
It appears those lawmakers who voted against the measure felt pressure from their local governments. There was concern at the local level the information would lead voters to approve less borrowing.
Kathy Hartkopf with FreedomWorks told the committee it would be truth in lending. “Voters deserve to know the true or maximum that they would pay,” said Hartkopf.
The President of the Civitas Institute Frances DeLuca called the proposal common sense. He said the legislators had a choice. “Side with the taxpayers or be on the side of bond attorneys,” he said. DeLuca said those who voted against the bill took the side of bond attorneys.
Unless the language shows up in another bill that meets the crossover deadline tomorrow the proposal is dead for this and the short session.
[…] morning the NC House Finance Committee killed HB 315 (for more information see this post) the Taxpayer Information Act. All Democrats joined by 4 Republicans helped defeat it 17-13. The […]