The House has just passed HB 380, the new version of the big income tax cut bill, on a 57-12 party-line vote. “It does all the things that it used to do,” Rep. Steven Harris, R-Meridian, the House Rev & Tax chairman, told the House. Democratic members objected to the bill, saying it would give big tax breaks to the wealthiest in Idaho. “This is not the bill that our constituents are asking us for,” said Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise. “We would be much better serving them if we sent this money out to counties to reduce property taxes.”
I wrote more about the changes in the bill at this post late yesterday. UPDATE: This afternoon, the Senate pulled HB 332, the original House-passed tax cut bill, back to committee; it had been awaiting amendments on the Senate's 14th Order.
Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, told the House, "Again, we see this process not working for the people of Idaho." He said the new version will get around proposed amendments pending in the Senate including adding the removal of the sales tax from groceries. However, he voted in favor of the bill.
Rep. Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls, said, "It's tiresome to hear that the people at the top are getting the most benefits. ... Most of the revenues are coming in that way."
Rep. Randy Armstrong, R-Inkom, said, "The government didn't earn the money, the taxpayers earned the money. It's just simple, common-sense logic that the people who put the most money in the bank get the most money out, and it's the same with the tax rebate, that those people get more money back. I don't understand why that doesn't make sense, but I'm from Inkom and so maybe it does."
Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said, "The taxation system is not a bank account. People who pay more in income tax are not supposed to get a better public school system. ... People who pay more in income taxes are not supposed to get better roads. We are contributing so that we have a functioning society. It's not a bank account where you get back more because you put in more. ... I don't think we're at a point where we should be looking at refunding tax payments to the wealthiest in the state."
Harris said most of the income tax collected in Idaho comes from the top brackets. The new bill still would need approval from a Senate committee, passage in the full Senate, and the governor's signature to become law.
Betsy Z. Russell is the Boise bureau chief and state capitol reporter for the Idaho Press and Adams Publishing Group. Follow her on Twitter at @BetsyZRussell.
