House Speaker Addresses 2017 Priorities-If Reelected
By Ana Bottary
@anabottary
With just a month to go before voters hit the polls, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello addresses his 2017 legislative priorities. If reelected, his first order of business, lowering the car tax.
"That car tax is just a stone in peoples shoe…Nick the representative from district 15 is going to utilize all of the power of the speakership to help reduce with the ultimate goal of eliminating the car tax," says Mattiello.
Mattiello says the goal is for the state to eventually step in and fund it. He also plans to raise the estate-tax exemption, from 1.5 million to 2 million. Mattiello’s challenger, Republican Steve Frias, says the promises he is now making are too late.
"He has been speaker for 3 years. Everything he is talking about today he had the power to do. He hasn’t done it. In regards to the car tax, well four months ago there was a proposal to cut the car tax, but he didn’t want to support it. He shut it down," says Frias.
Frias says there needs to be a clean up in the state house.
"We have to have government reforms, we have to have a line item veto, we have to have ledge grant reform."
Adding, it needs to be done in order to compete with other states.
"When it comes to economics, look were not going to dig ourselves out of a hole by pushing new tolls through, we have to repeal the new tolls. We have to lower our taxes income taxes, car taxes."
©WLNE-TV / ABC6 2016
