He stood down from all such Faculty and tax committees early in 2012.

Congressional tax committees still have to find $5.3 billion in new revenue.

The tax committees should handle the revenue side - not additional spending programs as at present.

But Republican members of the tax committees boycotted their sessions, and the bills show it.

"Once it gets into the tax committees in Congress, you don't know what will come out," he said.

But the prospects for such a measure were shaken by the cost projection from the staff of the joint tax committee.

Republicans on the Democratic-controlled tax committee, most of whom voted against the plan, said it would chase business and higher wage-earners from the state.

"Those members off the tax committee had almost no influence," he said.

Therefore, tax experts question the joint tax committee's official estimate of the cost of the bill at almost $70 billion.

Although the Republican leaders had added some new requirements for disclosure by tax committees and others, the appropriators deemed them inadequate.