House GOP's Hoover says he's still hopeful for tax reform after initial disappointment over task force

When Gov. Steve Beshear announced in January he was creating a task force to look at ways to revamp Kentucky’s tax code, Republican House floor leader Jeff Hoover said he was hopeful that the group could make a real difference.

Since then, Hoover said he was “extremely disappointed.” (Find out why at the beginning of the interview.)

The group, headed up by Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson, is made up of business leaders, as well as advocates for education and social services. For guidance, the commission on tax reform also hired as consultants William Fox, the University of Tennessee economics professor who headed up a tax study for Kentucky more than a decade ago, and William Hoyt and Michael Childress of the University of Kentucky.

Hoover said he the best case scenario is that the commission recommends by Thanksgiving “some solid concrete reforms that will spur economic growth, that will provide a strong foundation for our tax system, consistent revenues that will provide some incentives to allow that revenue stream to grow as the economy grows, (and) close some of these loopholes on exemptions.” (1:40)

Hoover answered questions about applying the sales tax to services and lowering Kentucky’s income tax (2:30) and the prospect of increasing state revenue for public universities, K-12 education and other state programs (5:00).