House OKs tax break for needy single parents
LITTLE ROCK The Arkansas House on Friday approved a tax cut for low-income single parents, saying the measure should have been included in tax breaks approved in previous sessions.
The $3.6 million income tax break affects heads of household with two or more dependents. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Allen Maxwell, D-Monticello, said the low-income heads of household were inadvertently left out of tax breaks approved in 1997 and 2007.
"It was a mistake, an error," Maxwell said. "It was everybody's fault, but it was nobody's fault, so we all play a role in this."
Maxwell's bill, which passed the House on a 98-0 vote Friday, calls for income tax breaks for heads of household with two dependents making up to $21,300 a year. The measure would be effective Jan. 1, 2010.
Also Friday, the House approved a measure that restructures the State Board of Massage Therapy and puts in place new guidelines for massage therapists. Bill sponsor Rep. Beverly Pyle, R-Cedarville, said she brought forward the bill after learning that the board approved rules that permit massages she thinks are inappropriate.
"They have worked hard to overcome the image their profession has been noted for for years," Pule said.
Pyle's bill, approved on a 90-6 vote Friday, explicitly bans some types of massage, and also calls for stricter background checks for massage therapists.
Pyle presented her bill to a snickering House chamber; after asking members to support the bill, Rep. John Paul Wells quipped, "They just kind of rub me the wrong way."
Also Friday, the House approved a bill that creates a commission to study Arkansas' dropout rate. The bill by Rep. James Word, D-Pine Bluff, passed on an 87-2 vote and now heads to the Senate.
Earlier Friday, a House panel approved a proposal to place restrictions on companies that give cash advances against a consumer's anticipated tax return.
The House Insurance and Commerce Committee approved a bill that says companies that issue "refund anticipation loans" must disclose interest rates and fees orally and on paper. They also would have to let consumers know they could obtain tax refunds in 8 to 15 days by filing electronically.
The proposal would also prevent firms from requiring consumers to enter into the loan agreements in order to have their tax returns completed.