Campbell introduces anti-Internet tax bill

Paul Clinton

Hoping to curb future taxes on access to the Internet, Assemblyman

John Campbell (R-Irvine) introduced a bill Thursday that would extend an

existing ban on levies.

Campbell’s bill, known as AB228, would extend the 1998 California

Internet Tax Freedom Act, a moratorium on access taxes set to expire at

the end of the year. Campbell’s bill seeks to add another three years to

the moratorium.

“We must avoid the temptation to regulate, tax, restrict and

bureaucratize this dynamic sector,” Campbell said in a statement. “I

believe this bill will help continue to promote the Internet at home,

work and at school.”

Campbell’s bill would ban attempts by government agencies to turn the

information superhighway into a pay-to-play toll road.

On Jan. 4, 13th District Assemblywoman Carol Migden (D-San Francisco)

reintroduced a bill that would order the state’s Board of Equalization to

collect sales tax on retailers who sell products over the Web.

But that’s not turning the Internet into a toll road, said Migden’s

chief of staff, Allan LoFaso.

“Nobody wants to tax the Internet,” LoFaso said. “The bills are not

directly related.”

Migden co-wrote the bill with 14th District Assemblywoman Dion Aroner

(D-Berkeley).

Campbell’s bill will probably be heard in policy committee in the

spring.

The assemblyman, whose district includes Newport Beach and Costa Mesa,

said it is imperative to protect Internet users from future taxes.

“Any number of counties, cities or the state might see this as a place

from which to get new revenue,” Campbell said. “No one’s raising taxes on

this right now because it’s against the law.”