Gov. Mike Leavitt has been named to a 19-member panel that will review federal policies on Internet taxation.
Leavitt will join information technology and telecommunications industry leaders on the panel including America Online Inc. President Robert Pittman, AT&T Corp. Chairman C. Michael Armstrong, Cisco Systems Inc. Chief Financial Officer Larry Carter and Gateway 2000 Inc. Chairman Theodore Waitt.The group, which will make recommendations to Congress in 2000, was created as part of a law that bans new taxes on Internet business for the next three years.
Telecommunications companies will have a strong voice on the committee, since they received many of the appointments, said Bill Whyman, an Internet analyst with Legg Mason Inc.'s Precursor Group.
"I would have expected to see an Amazon.com Inc. or CDNow Inc." or other Internet retailers named to the panel, Whyman said.
Still, the law was a victory for companies like America Online, Yahoo! Inc., Amazon.com, Microsoft Corp. and others that said new taxes would discourage consumers from buying online, hampering sales and stifling Internet growth.
Analysts say the next big question is whom the members of the influential panel will choose as chairman. That person will play a key role in drafting the final report and recommendations.
Some industry watchers may also question the panel's makeup. Under the law, eight members were to come from the private sector and eight from government. In the end, congressional leaders named 10 private sector representatives and only six government officials.
"Until Congress agrees to abide by the law it passed almost two months go, the (National Conference of State Legislatures) will challenge the validity of any meeting of the commission and any recommendations or findings it may issue," said Dan Blue, the president of the local government trade group.
House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, who named AOL's Pittman, also appointed Washington Democratic Gov. Gary Locke and Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk to the panel.
Earlier this month, House Speaker Newt Gingrich named Time Warner Inc. President Richard D. Parsons and Charles Schwab Corp. President David Pottruck to the panel.
Gingrich also named Virginia Republican Gov. James Gilmore; Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; and Dean Andal, chairman of California's tax-policy-setting State Board of Equalization.