Maryland’s state legislators are gearing up for a fight as they look to possibly override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a first-in-the-nation digital advertising tax when they return next week.
The state’s House of Delegates and the state Senate were able to override five of the Republican governor’s vetoes for other bills a year ago.
The bill has been pushed by state Senate President Bill Ferguson, according to National Review. The plan by Ferguson, who is a Democrat, would tax tech companies making over $100 million in global annual revenue and over $1 million in annual gross revenue derived from national advertising in Maryland, National Review reported. The tax rates would be set between 2.5% and 10%.
Ferguson wants the tax as a way to help fund an overhaul of the state’s public education system.
Ferguson told WBAL radio in December that he expected lawmakers to override Hogan’s veto. And he noted many industries have been “decimated” by the pandemic.
“You know what has not been hurt: Big Tech and Big Tobacco," Ferguson said. "The Facebooks of the world, the Twitters, the Netflixes. They are thriving and they contribute zero dollars to Maryland's civic infrastructure.”
The Baltimore Sun noted that a coalition called Marylanders for Tax Fairness opposes the digital advertising tax.
The group has called the tax deeply flawed. It maintains the costs will be passed on to Maryland residents as businesses charge higher prices to cover their increased cost of advertising, according to the Sun.
The newspaper noted Hogan has also said the tax would increase costs on Maryland residents at a time when many are dealing with their own financial struggles.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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