SB 29-27: No Taxing Drivers Act (Awaiting Sponsor)

[Left Wing]

AN ACT
To take the burden off drivers.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Atlasia in Congress assembled,

Section I. Title

i. This bill may be known as the No Taxing Drivers Act.

Section II. Definitions
i. "Vehicle mile tax" shall be defined as any tax or fee which charges motorists based on the amount of miles they have traveled.

Section III. Substance
i. No vehicle mile tax may be implemented at the federal level in Atlasia.
ii. No driver in Atlasia may be required to install a GPS or location tracker on their vehicle.

Passed 3-1-1-4 in the Atlasian House assembled

Sponsor: None
Status: Awaiting Sponsor

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The house proceedings seem to have been one of disinterest as a majority either abstained or did not vote on this in the final vote there.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I would assume MB pushed this because of the privacy concerns?

[Dr. MB]

I would assume MB pushed this because of the privacy concerns?

Yeah. I don't trust any technology which would track how many miles a driver traveled.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I would assume MB pushed this because of the privacy concerns?

Yeah. I don't trust any technology which would track how many miles a driver traveled.

Where does that leave the highway Trust fund though? I am not sure if we have implemented this as an alternative to the gas tax or note, but if we have that could pose an issue.

[SevenEleven]

I think we can have a mileage tax without GPS trackers. I don't support eliminating mileage taxes.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I think we can have a mileage tax without GPS trackers. I don't support eliminating mileage taxes.

How does the alternative work?

[SevenEleven]

I think we can have a mileage tax without GPS trackers. I don't support eliminating mileage taxes.

How does the alternative work?

We simply ban government-mandated GPS trackers. You report your mileage when you renew your vehicle registration. It's a compromise that allows for privacy and fair taxation simultaneously.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I think we can have a mileage tax without GPS trackers. I don't support eliminating mileage taxes.

How does the alternative work?

We simply ban government-mandated GPS trackers. You report your mileage when you renew your vehicle registration. It's a compromise that allows for privacy and fair taxation simultaneously.

The downside of that would be a similar situation to what happened with online orders and reporting of such on state income tax returns.

[SevenEleven]

I think we can have a mileage tax without GPS trackers. I don't support eliminating mileage taxes.

How does the alternative work?

We simply ban government-mandated GPS trackers. You report your mileage when you renew your vehicle registration. It's a compromise that allows for privacy and fair taxation simultaneously.

The downside of that would be a similar situation to what happened with online orders and reporting of such on state income tax returns.

I value privacy rights. I don't value tax evasion. I think we can find a compromise here.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I think we can have a mileage tax without GPS trackers. I don't support eliminating mileage taxes.

How does the alternative work?

We simply ban government-mandated GPS trackers. You report your mileage when you renew your vehicle registration. It's a compromise that allows for privacy and fair taxation simultaneously.

The downside of that would be a similar situation to what happened with online orders and reporting of such on state income tax returns.

I value privacy rights. I don't value tax evasion. I think we can find a compromise here.

Well the solution with online orders of requiring online merchants to charge such tax doesn't have a good way to be applied since it is difficult to tax electricity, gas is declining as a piece of the pie (hence the problem motivating the mileage tax) and taxing the cars would necessarily yield such a high tax that would seriously impact the ability to purchase a car for some people. The reason the latter would be so high is because you use a car for a number of years and thus equivalent amount spread over every gas fill up, when added together is likely a significant chunk of change.

[Pericles]

I don't see the point of this. If Congress wanted a VMT, it could just repeal this. And even if it passed a VMT while forgetting about this, wouldn't the new legislation just be the law anyway?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I don't see the point of this. If Congress wanted a VMT, it could just repeal this. And even if it passed a VMT while forgetting about this, wouldn't the new legislation just be the law anyway?

Yes, a previous congress cannot bind a future one in terms of statute. Only an amendment to the Constitution can do that.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

So where does that leave us then?

Its hard to do any self reporting scheme (Internet sales) and the number of gasoline powered cars is only going to decrease meaning less gas tax revenue for the highway trust fund.

[SevenEleven]

I don't see much need for this at all.

[Blair]

Motion for a final vote (I prefer to vote stuff down when we have a disagreement and see tabling as a stronger form of objection to be taken at the start)

[Left Wing]

24 hours to object.

[Left Wing]

Final Vote is now open.

[SevenEleven]

Nay.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Aye

[Left Wing]

Nay

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Nay

As presently structured, I don't see this as practical though I do understand the concerns with privacy.

[Blair]

Nay

[Pericles]

Nay

[Left Wing]

This fails 1-5-0-0

Aye: Spark
Nay: SevenEleven, FalterinArc, Yankee, Blair, Pericles
Abstain:
Didn’t Vote: