HEALTH

PUBLIC SQUARE

JENNIFER'S CORNER

SPECIAL REPORT

TN.  MOCKINGBIRD

CAR TALK

A PERSONAL VIEW

REALM OF REALITY

SPORTS

COLUMNIST

MATTER OF FAITH

FEED BAG

WW II SECRETS

READ ALL ABOUT IT

GUEST COLUMNIST

B J Armstrong

J C Bowman

Jennifer Bowman

Alexandra Edwards

June Griffin

J. B. Griffin

Mel Griffith

Toneeke Henderson

Jerry Keys

Joe Kirkpatrick

Pastor Joel Lawler

Pauline Murphy

Cecil Owen

Pettus Read

Ned Hickson

by Pete Edwards

A new twist on the familiar call for a Tennessee state income tax has surfaced in

the form of a Privilege Tax paid by employers on their employees earnings. House Bill 2027 was filed in February by State Representative Mike Kernell, a Democrat from Memphis. The bill proposes to impose a 1% Privilege Tax on wages paid by every qualifying employer in the state of Tennessee. The new tax would eliminate the present privilege tax paid by professionals such as lawyers and physicians. A portion of the  new tax revenue would be used to create a Tennessee Comprehensive Health Insurance Pool (TCHIP) managed by an appointed board of directors, the rest being used to fund hospitals and health institutions participating in TennCare.

EDITORIALS

JOKES & HUMOR

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

CARTOONS

Part of the summary of HB 2027 follows:

"This bill would create an employer privilege tax and a comprehensive health insurance pool.

EMPLOYMENT PRIVILEGE TAX

Present law provides for a privilege tax on certain occupations such as lawyers, physicians, engineers, and accountants. The tax is $400 per year. This bill would

abolish that tax and would create a new employer privilege tax. This bill would create a new Tennessee employer privilege tax, whereby acting as an employer and paying compensation for state service rendered by employees would be considered taxable privileges. The tax would be 1 percent of the total amount of compensation paid by the employer in excess of $4,166 each month. If an employer pays less than $50,000 in compensation during the tax year, the employer would receive a refund of the privilege tax. If an employer pays over $350,000,000 in compensation during the tax year, the employer would not have to pay the tax on the amount over $350,000,000. The tax return and payment must be filed on the fifteenth day of the next month. If there is a deficiency or late payment, the penalty would be 5 percent for each month of underpayment not to exceed 25 percent and interest. Half of the revenue derived from the employer privilege tax would be allocated to provide the state appropriation for a comprehensive health insurance pool (discussed below) and the other half would be allocated to provide payments to hospitals providing uncompensated care in the following manner: (1) 50 percent to safety net hospitals: the pool amount will be based on a pro-rata distribution of adjusted uncompensated or charity care; (2) 45 percent to other essential hospitals: the pool amount will be based 90 percent on a pro-rata distribution of the adjusted uncompensated or charity care and 10 percent to sole community providers based on TennCare volume; and (3) 5 percent to children's hospitals: the pool amount will be based on a pro-rata distribution of adjusted uncompensated or charity care. In regard to the hospitals, eligibility each quarter would be determine based on the hospital's participation in TennCare. The hospital must have a contract with

Editorials

Website Survey Results

Salute to our troops

Seven and Counting