So here's a riddle for you. What do the Ohio tax code and a grizzly bear have in common?

Come on, this is not that difficult.

Easy, either one will treat you just fine until you start messing around with it. Do that and eventually both of them will bite you, claw you and leave you a little dazed and confused about just what happened.

We thought state lawmakers had finally done a good thing last session when they approved some sweeping tax reform legislation.

One of the reforms included a 0.26 percent tax on sales that would gradually replace a tax on profits that has been riddled with loopholes and an antiquated tax on equipment and inventory.

We liked the logic behind the reform. The new law more fairly shared the tax load among business and didn't penalize the heavy manufacturing businesses for improving their equipment.

Now lawmakers are aiming their budget-busting shotguns at the new tax code and firing away. The result could be more ugly than the most gruesome mafia film ever.

A tax is really only as good as either the taxed person or entity's willingness to pay it or the government's willingness to enforce the tax.

No sooner than the ink was dried on the new legislation, the state has already begun pushing for sweeping exemptions.

The budget approved in July included a small exemption for a new Columbus area cargo distribution center. So what will that tiny little exemption cost the state?

Just a bit less than $14 million over the next two years, says the state's Department of Taxation.

The exemption now has others crying for fairness by creating exemptions for the state's other nine foreign trade zones. If completed, those exemptions may cost between $34 million and $120 million, all depending upon the level of business that makes its way through the foreign trade zones.

Unfortunately, the foreign trade zones are not the only folks who have received exemptions. Gasoline stations, certain medical practices, certain types of banking deals and some types of automobile transactions have all received exemptions.

Exemption supporters will say the exemptions are necessary because businesses help the state's economy grow. We understand that, however who is left to pay the taxes if everyone gets an exemption?

Maybe we can figure out a way to tax grizzly bears. They might not fuss too much if we just tax them and leave them alone.