Governors side with Ohio over satellite TV tax, lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court

Governors side with Ohio over satellite TV tax

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The National Governors Association is getting behind Ohio’s effort to maintain a tax on the satellite television industry.

The industry is challenging the tax, which brings the state $44 million a year, in a lawsuit before the Ohio Supreme Court. The governors association filed a friend of the court brief Monday in support of the state’s position.

In the brief, the association said it is interested in the case because it “calls into question the ability of all 50 states to raise revenue.”

The satellite TV industry is arguing that subjecting it and not cable competitors to the 5.5 percent sales tax violates interstate commerce rights. The state says the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently held that the Commerce Clause doesn’t protect one interstate business from another.