After two and a half hours of testimony, nearly all of it in favor of the bill, and another half-hour of debate, the House Revenue & Taxation Committee has failed to pass any motion with regard to HB 581, the streamlined sales tax bill. House Majority Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, offered an amended substitute motion to pass the bill on to the full House without recommendation, but it died on an 8-10 vote. House Assistant Majority Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, made a substitute motion to refer the measure to an interim committee for more study, but that died on a 9-9 tied vote. Then, the original motion to pass the bill and send it to the full House with a recommendation that it "do pass" also failed on a slightly different 9-9 vote: Roberts voted yes, but Bedke voted no.

"I think the bill is dead," Rev & Tax Chairman Dennis Lake said after the votes. "I wouldn't place it on the agenda again knowing the result would be the same." However, he said there might be some possibility of reconsideration; it's also possible another measure could be drafted for an interim committee study on the issue. "I'd probably support that at this point in the game," Lake said.

Here's the breakdown in the final 9-9 vote, on the motion to send the bill to the full House with a "do pass" recommendation:

Voting in favor: Reps. Collins, Raybould, Roberts, L. Smith, Gibbs, Killen, Burgoyne, Rusche, and Lake.

Voting against: Reps. Barrett, Moyle, Schaefer, J. Wood, Bedke, Harwood, Barbieri, Bayer, and Ellsworth.