The outgoing Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, has named five taxpayer representatives to the new Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce. Congress authorized the formation of the 19-member Commission in mid-October, when President Clinton agreed to a three-year moratorium on new state and local taxes on internet commerce and access charges (CI No 3,523). The Commission will be given eighteen months to study how best to tax the net. The secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce departments will be members of the committee, as will the US Trade Representative. Senate and House leaders, including Gingrich, will name the remaining sixteen delegates. Eight will be drawn from industry and consumer groups and eight from state and local governments. Gingrich has named David Pottruck, president of Charles Schwab Corp; Richard Parsons, president of Time Warner Inc; Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; James Gilmore, governor of Virginia; and Dean Andal, chairman of California’s State Board of Equalization.
