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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TigerPaw who wrote (3056)	2/28/2002 10:39:10 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

Bullock squashed plan that would have aided Enron By Mark Babineck Associated Press Web Posted : 02/26/2002 12:00 AM HOUSTON — Then-Gov. George W. Bush's attempt to overhaul the Texas tax system in the mid-1990s would have saved Houston-based Enron Corp. a reported $9 million a year alone in property taxes and possibly much more in franchise taxes. But the plan, shaped with help from an Enron executive and a longtime board member, encountered an obstacle even the company's famous ties to Bush could not overcome: Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, the Democrat whose power in Austin exceeded Bush's. "Bullock had the reputation that if he wanted something done, it usually got done. There's a good chance it could have passed" had he approved, said Mike Hailey, a top aide to Bullock at the time. "By Bullock not getting up and helping it may be one of the most important reasons it didn't pass." In 1995, Bush appointed 17 people to a commission assigned to study tax reform. Among them was Rich Kinder, who left Enron's presidency in 1996 to form his own company. Meanwhile Charles Walker, an Enron director from 1985 to 99, had a brief meeting with Bush in 1995. The reforms, which died in the Texas Legislature in 1997, called for lowering property taxes and eliminating the corporate franchise tax in favor of higher sales taxes and a value-added tax, or VAT, on goods and services. The franchise tax assesses a 4.5 percent levy on profits earned within the state. Enron is registered to pay franchise taxes, although those records are confidential. Of the 125,000 businesses that paid the state franchise tax last year, 30 contributed nearly $400 million — 19 percent — of the almost $2 billion collected, according to records. The companies' names are not available. The franchise tax accounted for about 3.6 percent of the state's revenue last year, according to the state comptroller's office. Texas still has no VAT or income tax, instead relying on property taxes and some of the nation's highest sales tax rates. The state has among the lowest per-capita tax burdens. Walker told the Associated Press he had relationships with Bush's father, former President George Bush, and grandfather, former U.S. Sen. Prescott Bush of Connecticut, but never met George W. Bush until he laid out his ideas to him in 1995. Walker acknowledged that Enron and other capital-intensive companies, especially those in manufacturing and industry, would benefit from his proposal. "Bush wanted a capital-friendly tax system," he said. 02/26/2002 news.mysanantonio.com.