The bill has been passed by the House and is now in the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee where it is likely to receive a hearing soon.

This bill will cut income and corporate tax rates and provide a one-time tax rebate. Under the proposal, the tax benefits from this proposed legislation are heavily lopsided. Taking all provisions into account, households with very modest earnings would receive a $78 average tax cut, and the top 1 percent would receive an average tax cut of $8,863. The draft legislation would cost the state between $386 million and $389.4 million in its first year and between $160 million and  $169.4 million per year thereafter. Most Idaho households still would not see a significant change in their tax bill from this legislation. (ID Center for Fiscal Policy)

League position: Oppose – The League’s position: Principles of Taxation: The League of Women Voters of Idaho believes that Idaho should maintain a balanced tax structure which includes a variety of broad-based taxes such as the property tax, income tax, and sales tax.  League supports measures that will make Idaho’s tax structure progressive, i.e., graduated based upon income, financially adequate for citizen needs, and which can be administered with thoroughness and fairness. (Adopted July 1977; amended May 1988, amended February 2015)

Income Tax: The League of Women Voters of Idaho believes that the progressivity in the state income tax structure should be maintained and improved. (Adopted May of 1985, amended May 1994, amended May 2002)

Take Action - Write to your Senator and all members of the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee:

Suggested Script: "I am writing to oppose bill H 332...  or  "As your constituent, I urge you to oppose.. " Select some talking points. Include your address and phone number after your signature.)

Talking points:

• A tax cut and rebate are not appropriate at a time when 80% of Idaho’s school districts have had to depend on supplemental levies of more than $200 million every year (more than $500 million if you include bond levies as well) just to maintain educational programs (IDEDNews) and when the state is dead last in the nation in per-pupil spending. (IDEDNews51)
• Idaho’s overall per capita tax burden is 45th in the nation and 10th within the 11 western states. The rankings put Idaho's taxes among the lowest in the West and in the nation. We do not need an income tax cut. What we do need, and what Idahoans are asking for, is a reduction in property taxes, not income taxes. 
• Ignoring property tax relief will result in enormous consequences for Idaho seniors and families who are in danger of losing their homes, largely because their property taxes are paying for our schools through increasing supplemental levies every year.
• I do not want my income taxes cut until the legislature does its job of fulfilling its constitutional duty “to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools” by funding education adequately.

In a positive note:

ADDITIONAL ACTION: Write to Senator Winder:

• THANK him for his comments about the need for the legislature to fund education to fulfill its constitutional duty “to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.”
• Ask him to oppose bill H 332 and instead encourage his colleagues to find a solution that will actually help Idahoans whose property taxes are rising due to increasing supplemental levies, causing them to have to leave their homes.

FYI about Winder’s quotes:

Twice during this legislative session, Senate President Pro-Tem Chuck Winder has made statements related to the need to fund education adequately:

• Regarding H 66 about regulations on levy election disclosures, he said, “The solution ought to be funding the schools in a way that we don’t need supplementals.” He also said, “I just want to be on the record that this has become a means to just keep our schools going, and I don’t think we need to make it any more difficult.”
• Also, regarding H 106 eliminating August elections, he said, “I think I won’t say it’s criminal that we have to have supplemental levies, but it’s pretty close to that. So I think the real long-term answer to election consolidation as it impacts the schools is to figure out a way to eliminate the supplemental levies, and that means more funding by the state. We’re obligated under our Constitution to provide a fair and equitable free system, and I think there are some things we can do to improve it. I think to again put it back on the property tax in our school districts is an undue burden on our citizens.”