16 • CHAMBER NEWS • Wednesday, April 2, 2014 • chambernews.com
NEWS
2014 Legislative Session in review ADVOCACY
BY MARK LEE
Public Affairs & Communications Director and Chamber Lobbyist
The Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce’s Bill Tracker for the 2014 Legislative Session included 55 bills labeled as Tier 1 meaning of the highest importance; 31 Tier 2 bills; and three Tier 3 bills. Following is a report based on a select number of Tier 1 bills that were the focus of much of the Chamber’s efforts this session.
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During session, this included a weekly recap of legislative activity as well as the activities of local governments and the Sioux Falls School Board; it will continue to be used year-round. To see the Chamber’s Bill Tracker, visit siouxfallschamber.com and click on the Advocacy tab.
Bank Franchise Tax Issues HB 1200 and HB 1201 were two bills that dealt with changes to the bank franchise tax. HB 1200 involved changing accounting provisions for net operating loss carry-forwards, and HB 1201 involved changing the apportionment formula to better reflect current banking activities in the country especially for credit card banks. Both bills were acceptable to the Chamber and the banking community.
What was important in this discussion was the bill that did not get introduced, which would have created a new alternative minimum tax for credit card banks and significantly increased their taxes. The Chamber was actively engaged in this dialogue with the Governor and his team and advocated against this proposal. As it turned out, this bill was not introduced. On a side note, companion bills SB 175 and SB 176 were eventually withdrawn by the sponsor.
of the visitor center at Good Earth State Park due to a $2 million donation from the Robert and Rita Elmen Foundation. It was amended to include expansion of the center at Custer State Park as well based on other donations. The Chamber supported this bill and it sailed through both houses and was signed by the Governor.
Technical Institute Marketing
The Chamber supported HB 1045 to reduce employer-paid unemployment taxes beginning in 2015. This bill was overwhelmingly supported and will save employers nearly $11 million per year. It, too, sailed through both houses.
HB 1011 would have put the state’s technical institutes on the same footing as the state universities with regard to marketing their programs by giving them access to high school students’ names and addresses. While the Chamber favored the bill, it was tabled at the request of the sponsor early in the process.
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Large Project Refund Program Sunset
HB 1070 was a sunset bill that ended the “large project refund program� and also Good Earth State Park directed the estimated $19.5 million unobHB 1013 would permit the expansion ligated cash balance be deposited into the
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