SC- Senate approves wire transfer tax to fight Illegal Imm
Senate approves wire transfer tax to fight illegal immigration
By Tim Smith • CAPITAL BUREAU • Published: March 10. 2011 9:49AM
COLUMBIA - The Senate earlier today approved a new tax on wire transfers of money out of the country to help fund the creation of an illegal immigration police unit.
The 21-15 vote came shortly after midnight after some senators argued if they did not get the legislation right it might harm the international business community in the state.
The 1 percent levy would be placed on any wire transfers of cash out of the country. Any South Carolina income tax filer would be allowed a refundable credit equal to the amount of the fee. The idea is that those who are not state taxpayers would end up being responsible for the fee, which would go into the Department of Public Safety to fund the immigration enforcement unit created by senators Wednesday.
Sen. Luke Rankin, a Conway Republican, said the legislation is similar to provisions in at least three other states and would attack the drug trade.
But Sen. Larry Martin, a Pickens County Republican, said lawmakers are not good at creating late-night legislation on something that could have dire consequences if they make a mistake.
"I'm begging you please don't pass this," he told the Senate. "The Senate doesn't have the reputation of doing something like this on the fly."
Sen. Larry Grooms, a Berkeley County Republican, said if the legislation is not right "we will have spit in the eye of every international business in South Carolina," including large Upstate firms such as Michelin and BMW.
"This bill is not intended to be a vehicle to ruin our economy," he said.
Rankin later amended the bill to address some of Groom's concerns by specifying the fee is on any transfers by a money transmitter required by federal regulation to register with the U.S. Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Network. Senators earlier exempted automated clearinghouse transfers from the proposal.
Grooms said the change meant the odds the Senate had done the right thing were 70 percent, still too low.
The 1 percent fee would be on any transfer of funds of more than $500. For any transfer of funds less than that amount, users would be charged $5 under the legislation. The new fees would take effect next January.
The amendment was one of several late-night additions to the latest revision of an immigration reform bill that would allow police to check the immigration status of someone stopped for another reason.
The legislation also creates a new state police unit to enforce immigration laws and to be housed in the Department of Public Safety. Officers would received training and certification by federal immigration authorities so they could enforce federal immigration laws. Senators said they did not know how much the police unit would cost. Until Rankin's amendment, there was no specific means of paying for the police unit.
The Senate voted 28-8 to approve the entire immigration bill on second reading. A final vote is expected today.
The measure would then head to the House.
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article ... mmigration