Political Quotes

“I rise today--and I know other colleagues have done the same--to talk about H.J. Res. 142, the resolution we will be voting on later. It is a resolution that would overturn a recent law passed by the DC City Council regarding local taxes. I care a lot about this not just because Virginia is a neighbor to DC. But I have been a mayor and a Governor and dealt with local and State tax issues and the interplay between those issues and Federal taxation. Last year, this body, with colleagues across the aisle carrying the ball, passed a large reconciliation bill, which included numerous changes to the Federal Tax Code. Now, everyone here is aware of this fact: that our system of federalism that is ingrained in our Constitution only gives us, in this body, authority over Federal taxes. The reconciliation bill didn't and couldn't change Missouri's State income tax, Virginia's State income tax, Oklahoma's State income tax, or local property taxes for cities in those States. Some States, when there is Federal tax legislation that is passed, choose to align their State and local tax policies directly with Federal tax policy. That is called conformity. You make a change to the Internal Revenue Code, and some States choose--and it is their choice-- to conform their own State tax code and even local tax codes with the Federal Tax Code. But other States choose--and, again, this is a choice--to decouple all or parts of their tax code.”