Senate Floor Speech
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
April 29, 2004 -- Page: S4670

MRS. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I voted for the bill that has just passed because I have said all along I am against taxing Internet access. I think it is a disruption of interstate commerce. I have said that all along.

The reason I have been concerned about this bill is I have been very afraid that the city franchise taxes that are collected in my State of Texas were somehow going to be brought into the bill. I have now been working with the Senate leaders, the managers of the bill, Senators McCain, Allen, Wyden, and Senator Dorgan, to assure that it was not the intent to take the Texas franchise fee, which is called an access line fee in Texas, to be included in the ban on Internet access. It is not Internet access; it is a franchise fee.

I very much hope we can clarify the record on this point and assure that in conference the definition will be clear so it will be recognized under Federal law 47 U.S.C., section 1104(8)(B), that the Texas access line fee is included as a franchise fee or similar fee, and included in the exceptions from the definition of tax.

I hope we have an assurance from the managers of the bill that this Texas access line fee, which is a franchise fee, would not be included within the definition of Internet access tax. It is a Texas-only issue, as I understand. It is a franchise fee but it is called an access line fee after Texas law was changed in 1999, which is why the moratorium puts it in question. I would like to assure that we get this definition in conference. I know now, from talking to the four managers, that it was not the intention to take our access fee as a part of the major bill, but in fact treat it as a franchise fee, which is what it is.