Earlier this summer, without a single dissenting vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (H.R. 235) to permanently extend the ban on Internet access taxes that is set to expire on October 1st of this year. The focus is now on the Senate where the companion legislation, known as the ‘Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act’ (S.431), is being considered with less than two months to go before time runs out.
The ban on Internet access taxes was originally put in place in 1998 and incrementally extended by Congress over the years to foster and encourage the continued expansion of Internet, which is now a critical gateway to education, healthcare, jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Internet access allows Americans from all walks of life to equally participate and compete in today’s global economy. Unfortunately, if the Internet access tax ban expires, the high state and local taxes that are already applied to wireless service could be expanded to include Internet access, increasing the cost of service. This despite the fact that the FCC National Broadband Plan says that cost is the largest barrier to consumer broadband adoption.
Luckily, the ‘Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act’ has the broad support over half of the Senate, with Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) sponsoring the bill, along with 50 other bipartisan cosponsors. However, more support is needed to ensure that the bill passes.
The Senators that are NOT currently supporting the Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act are listed below, along with their Facebook pages and Twitter handles. Take a minute to tell each of them on Facebook and Twitter to support the ‘Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act’ today, become a cosponsor, and pass this much needed legislation to ensure that the Internet remains accessible for all and unhindered by discriminatory taxes!
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