Psst… the Speaker may be trying to tell you something.

First, Speaker DiMasi went to a Greater Boston Chamber breakfast and poured cold water on Governor Patrick’s ‘loophole closure/business tax hike‘, choosing the very venue where Patrick made one of the initial announcements about the plan.

Next, the House budget amendments came out. Legislators found time to suggest the frivolous (like the much beloved Winter Moth study amendment) and the serious (eliminating the EQA by reinserting similar language from the Governor’s budget). However, precisely none of the Representatives attempted to reinsert the ‘loophole closure/business tax hikes’.

A commission is being appointed to review the tax code (with an eye on business taxation), consisting of appointees of the Governor, Senate President, and House Speaker? Speaker DiMasi’s apppointees? Associated Industries of Massachusetts vice president Eileen McAnneny; Mass. Taxpayers Foundation President Michael Widmer; House Revenue Committee chairman John Binienda (D-Worcester); House Minority Leader Bradley Jones (R-North Reading), and Kevin Long, a tax attorney and accountant from Sudbury. (via State House News, subscription required)