Drumbeats
You can hear the faint sound of distant drumbeats for an income tax in this Q&A with Nelson Andrews, chairman of the "independent" Tax Structure Study Commission that is studying Tennessee's tax structure. As writer Tim Chavez comments, "The commission carries baggage because of who established it: the same state leaders who tried to pass an income tax against the wishes of a majority of Tennesseans. One commission member is former state Sen. Bob Rochelle." Rochelle, of course, tried to ram a state income tax through the Senate. Andrews, a former state education commissioner is also on record as a proponent of the income tax. So is commission member Gary Poe, an executive with Eastman Chemical Co.

What Nelson said: What is not debatable is that there is no way that the current structure will be able to sustain the current level of services into the future.

What Nelson meant: We need an income tax.

Andrews argues hard for the commission's neutrality and credibility, but he's singing a song few are buying. As Knoxville News Sentinel columnist Tom Humphrey said back in January:

For the most part, the members represent various special interests that are at least comfortable with the concept of tax reform, including an income tax. Thus, the deck is arguably stacked. The appointees so far include more folks with a history of supporting an income tax than opponents.

As I pointed out back in January, even Gov. Bredesen is skeptical the commission is in any meaningful way "independent" and neutral on the question of an income tax. Said Bredesen at the time, in response to a question from The Tennessean,

It was created by the legislature, but I will certainly read it carefully. I was asked by some people who were thinking about serving on it what my attitude was, and did I think they were wasting their time. I said if they're taking an objective look at the tax structure and how to correct taxes and not thinking how could we quickly raise another billion dollars of revenue, then it could be useful. If what this thing is, just to bring the income tax again two years down the line, I just feel I ran for this office on a promise not to implement an income tax in my first term, so don't look at it as something which is going to box me into a corner. I will certainly listen to what they say with respect, and I think it will be a useful contribution for discussions.

One open question: Jim Neeley was appointed to the commission in early January by then-Gov. Don Sundquist. Neeley, who was head of the Tennessee AFL-CIO at the time, is a supporter of the income tax. A few days later, new Gov. Phil Bredesen announced that Neeley would be his Commissioner of Labor. Is Neeley still on the commission? If so, Andrews' claims of the commission's independence from the governor are bogus. UPDATE: Neeley is no longer a member of the Tax Structure Study Commission, according to Milissa Reierson, spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Labor. He was replaced him on the commission by A.J. Starling, who is the Tennessee AFL-CIO director of political affairs. As director of political affairs, Starling was the labor organization's point man on legislative issues, which of course including promoting the organization's support for an income tax. Certainly he can not be accurately said to have an open mind on the issue.

I'm also trying to determine the identity of the "five extraordinarily talented academicians" Andrews mentions. There are none on this list of ten of the board members, but I haven't yet found a full list of the commission members. (Update: I found the list. The five academicians are non-voting members of the commission. More details and link below…)

UPDATE: The membership of the commission was expanded from 15 to 19 by the legislature last session. Here is a story listing the four additional members appointed after the board was expanded. I don't know if any of these four are on record supporting an income tax, but if any of my readers find out, please pass it along to me.

UPDATE: Here is the website of the Tax Structure Study Commission. Its membership list is here, but very unhelpful - no bios, just names. One name is very worrisome - Dr. Bill Fox, a University of Tennessee economist and long-time shill for the income tax, is a non-voting member and one of five academics who are serving as economic advisers to the panel.

Minutes to past commission meetings are here. The page offers links to many of the PowerPoint presentations that have been shown at commission meetings.

The Tax Structure Study Commission's upcoming meetings are listed here. Its next meeting is July 31st in Nashville. (TSU - Avon Williams Campus, 310 10th Avenue - Room 353).

A list of "Resource Links" on the commission's website indicates the direction the commission is leaning on the question of recommending an income tax. One article considered a valuable resource by the commission is this June 2001 article from the National Conference of State Legislatures, titled Principles of a High-Quality State Revenue System, which argues in favor of states taxing incomes:

There is merit in the notion that states and local governments should balance their tax systems through reliance on the "three-legged stool" of income, sales and property taxes in roughly equal proportions, with excise taxes, business taxes, gaming taxes, severance taxes and user charges playing an important supplemental role.

The commission also considers a valuable resource this April 2003 article from the left-leaning, pro-big-government, pro-higher-taxes Center on Budget Policy Priorities, which claims recent state budget difficulties were "not caused by overspending," even though solid research indicates the opposite.

Meanwhile, what I said here back in early April holds true: Even if the Tax Structure Study Commission is indeed independent and open-minded and not just another dog-and-pony show to shill for the income tax, it's still studying the wrong thing. Unfortunately, the Tax Structure Study Commission as it exists now is set up to ignore half of the equation: It is not authorized or ordered to examine the state's archaic and uncontrolled spending structure that has long been the primary cause of the state's chronic budget crises. Its budget, then, is just another example of wasteful spending.

A shorter version of this is posted at PolState.com.