Topeka ? Nearly 28,000 small businesses would not have to pay the state franchise tax, under a bill announced today by state Rep. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin.

“This proposal is particularly helpful to start-up small businesses,” Holland said.

Currently, all businesses must pay the tax, which is figured as a percentage of the businesses’ net worth. The maximum tax is $5,000.

Holland’s proposal would exempt any business worth less than $1 million from paying the tax.

His proposal, however, would hit big businesses harder by raising the maximum amount of franchise tax to $20,500.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of Saturday’s Journal-World.