On Thursday afternoon, the Senate passed a custom enforcement bill originated in the House by Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) that would permanently ban state and local municipalities from taxing internet access.
The Hill reported that Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) spearheaded the bill.
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“This bill is about coming down hard on the trade cheats who are ripping off American jobs, and the truth is past trade policies were often too old, too slow or too weak for our country to fight back,” Wyden said.
The bill also included an overhaul of the U.S Customs and Border Protection agency, as well as additional protections for intellectual property and addition resources for the federal government to crack down on currency manipulation.
Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) were two of the largest opponents of the bill because of the ban on internet taxes.
“According to the Republican conference rules, the Senate Republican Congress believes that Congress should not create new federal unfunded mandates on state and local governments,” Alexander said on Thursday. “However, the vote today that we’re about to cast breaks that promise.”
Durbin threatened to block the bill because of the internet tax ban, but eventually allowed it to move forward after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) allowed a bill allowing states to collect sales tax from internet retailers to move forward.
Many of the senators received a heavy push from the U.S. Chambers of Commerce, the National Retail Federation, and National Association of Manufacturers who said the legislation would help grow manufacturing in the U.S.
In the end the bill passed 75 to 20. With just 17 Democrats and three Republicans voting against the ban on an internet tax.