7 December 2018 — 1327 mst
Fern introduces bill taxing fireworks
Eastern Montana conservative Rep. Casey Knudsen (R-Malta, HD-33), and western Montana centrist Rep. Dave Fern (D-Whitefish, HD-5) are teaming up, perhaps unwittingly, to raise revenue for emergency services. It’s a textbook case of both supply and demand, and of the strange bedfellows that politics creates.
On 3 December, Knudsen requested a bill, LC-2144, to “Legalize bottle rockets, roman candles, and sky rocket fireworks.”
Two days later, Fern, at the request of the legislature’s Local Government Interim Committee, introduced House Bill 28:
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A TAX ON FIREWORKS TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES; PROVIDING THAT THE TAX IS COLLECTED BY FIREWORKS WHOLESALERS; PROVIDING FOR DISTRIBUTION OF THE TAX REVENUE; PROVIDING FOR A PORTION OF THE REVENUE TO BE USED FOR WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COVERAGE FOR VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS; CREATING AN EMERGENCY MEDICAL AND TRAUMA SERVICES GRANT PROGRAM; PROVIDING RULEMAKING AUTHORITY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND A TERMINATION DATE. [All caps in original; tradition.]
HB-28 imposes a five percent tax on “fireworks sold in Montana by a wholesaler.” It resembles a value added tax, but functions as a hidden retail sales tax. The customer at the local fireworks stand won’t see the tax on his sales receipt, but he’ll be paying it.
The tax would increase the cost of municipal fireworks displays, but that wouldn’t be a problem unless the displays were paid for by tax dollars.
The tax would take effect on 1 October 2019, and expire on 30 September 2023. Perhaps the money won’t be needed after four years, but I have a hunch the sunset provision was necessary to get the support of the committee.
If both bills pass, more fireworks will be sold and more tax revenue will be raised. And more things will be set on fire accidentally — especially in years when Independence Day is hot, dry, and windy — necessitating more emergency services and the funding they require. After the smoke cleared, the sunset would disappear.
If Knudsen’s bill passes, there’ll be more smoke than before, more mangled fingers, more eyes full of burning black powder. Setting off fireworks is great fun. Putting out fires started by errant roman candles is not. This is not legislation responsible people should support.
Fern’s bill has merit. I doubt it will pass, but it deserves a fair hearing and serious consideration. A sales tax is an ugly way to raise revenue, but give our current political divisions, it may be the only way to obtain funding for critical functions.