According to word we have just received, the flat tax that Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) is hoping to force upon the District is receiving a second round of debate and consideration today.

The District of Columbia Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which he chairs, has scheduled a hearing today to dicuss his flat tax proposal, and it will be receiving testimony from District CFO Natwar Gandhi, Brookings Institution scholar Alice Rivlin, and Terence Golden and John Hill from the Federal City Council. A first hearing held earlier this month featured testimony from flat tax proponents, including analysts from the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute and the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation.

Brownback’s proposal would establish a uniform federal tax rate for District residents, doing away with current exemptions. Supporters claim it would spur economic growth, while opponents, one of which we featured on Sunday, argue that it negatively impacts poor families. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams has said he would entertain the idea, while D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has claimed that it would be unconstitutional.

The hearing will start at 2 p.m. and is set to take place in Room 138 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.