Revenue subcommittee recommends negatively on bill lowering lawyers' professional privilege tax

Chairman Briggs presented Senate Bill 1842, which would reduce the professional privilege tax for lawyers from $400 to $200. "What this would do, it really takes some of the burden off the young lawyers," Briggs said, framing the change as relief for early-career attorneys after licensing fees were increased by the Board of Professional Responsibility to fund a victims' restitution fund.

The subcommittee adopted a technical amendment to correct the statutory amount from $400 to $200. The chair then announced a fiscal impact: "this does have a cost of $44,738,000," and noted the cost is not funded in the budget. After brief discussion — including a statement from Sen. Yarbrough that he pays the tax personally — Sen. Hale moved for a negative recommendation; the motion was seconded and a roll-call vote returned five ayes. The committee reported the bill to the full Finance Committee with a negative recommendation.

The committee's action is procedural: the negative recommendation registers the panel's view to finance but does not remove the bill from further consideration. The bill's sponsor emphasized targeted relief for younger attorneys while acknowledging the budgetary trade-offs.

The subcommittee will take no further action in this session; SB 1842 proceeds to the Finance Committee with the subcommittee's negative recommendation.