LINCOLN- LR11CA, a tax reform proposal sponsored by Senator Steve Erdman, fell two votes short of clearing first round advancement in the Legislature. The bill would have created a constitutional amendment to replace the state's income, corporate, sales and property tax system with a new consumption tax, a previously known concept known as a 'flat tax', of 10.64%.
Erdman said his proposal would provide "the real solution (to) a broken tax system" and he warned his colleagues that "voters will be taking things into their own hands" if the Legislature does not act now. The proposal created a new revenue system that would center taxation on the purchase of services and new goods he said, "you can never, never be overtaxed because you decide how much tax you pay."
An argument established by opposition senators was that the new system would be regressive and had too many unanswered questions, 16 of the 23 'yes' votes came from rural senators with many noting that approving the proposal would only mean further conversation. Sen. Steve Lathrop said the proposal was very risky that raised many new questions such as how to fund schools in the system. Sen. Matt Williams said the measure would destroy the insurance industry.