Flashback: Speaker Gregg Voted to Increase Corporate Tax Rate

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Flashback: Speaker Gregg Voted to
Increase Corporate Tax Rate
Now He Wants to Cut Taxes...Nice Try, Mr. Speaker


INDIANAPOLIS (May 16, 2012) - Speaker John Gregg calls himself "fiscally responsible" on the campaign trail, but like most everything else, he's spinning yarns without telling the whole story.

In his waning days as Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, John Gregg put his stamp of approval on a series of massive tax increases, including a hike in Indiana's corporate tax rate to 8.5 percent to fill budget holes he helped create.

"Speaker Gregg's campaign has been about saying one thing and doing another," said Indiana Republican Party State Chairman Eric Holcomb.

"When economic times got tough in Indiana, Speaker John Gregg had a solution: delay payments to schools, take on debt and raise taxes on Hoosiers. This is hardly a "fiscally responsible" record. It's the record of someone who wants to grow government through tax increases and massive debt - again.

Holcomb added, "Now that we have a AAA credit rating and balanced budgets, Speaker Gregg wants to claim the mantle of tax cutting fiscal hawk. Nice try, Mr. Speaker."

BACKGROUND
Speaker Gregg has said when it comes to taxes his "record speaks for itself." He's right.

Speaker Gregg Voted For House Bill 1004 Which Increased Corporate Tax to 8.5 Percent, Added New 'Business Activity' Tax, Suspended Other Taxes (Roll Call #76, 2/4/02)

• "[S]uspends the homeowner income tax deduction and business add-back cuts; combines several business taxes and raises them to an 8.5 corporate net income tax; and institutes a new franchise or 'business activity' tax on businesses...rolls back the insurance premium tax cut; and institutes a $2 bed tax on nursing homes." ("'Meaty' bills still on table this session," Evansville Courier & Press, 2/6/02)
• "The bill would raise sales taxes by a penny to 6 cents on the dollar, increase taxes on cigarettes by 39.5 cents per pack, raise admissions and wagering taxes on riverboat casinos, and suspend two tax cuts approved in 1999." (Mike Smith, "House approves tax plan; big changes expected in Senate," Associated Press, 2/4/02)