The Vermont Senate has voted to raise $9.4 million in new revenues to support a $1.3 billion general fund budget, in part by capping the deduction that homeowners can take from their state income taxes for mortgage interest.
The 24-5 vote came Wednesday afternoon, as the Senate prepared to debate the spending blue print for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Much of the Senate debate on the tax bill centered on changes that critics complained would favor the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Vermonters.
The home mortgage interest deduction would be capped at $12,000.
The Senate put off the debate on whether to tax software services purchased off the Internet — so-called cloud computing — for consideration as part of a separate bill.
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