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LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER X --MARCH 4-7/2008
Constituents:
Legislators are getting restless as we try to wrap the
session. I heard that we will be out of here sometime between the 21st to the 31st of the month.
We've even heard that we may be coming back the next two Saturdays to vote on bills because we are really getting jammed up on the reading calendar. JFAC has set the budget and we will be voting on various budget bills the next couple of weeks. Here are some of the week's highlights.
1. Grocery Tax Credit -- It appears that we may finally get a grocery tax credit bill passed this session. The House passed this legislation by a 61-8 vote.
This was a bill that many did not like. There are those who prefer to simply take the tax off at the till for groceries. Then there was a problem according to some just what constituted the definition of groceries. The tax credit team finally won the day with the pitch that only Idaho citizens would benefit from this tax relief. The Governor will probably support the bill, and it now goes to the Senate.
The bill allows each member of a family of four earning $25,000 or less per year to claim $50 credit on their state income tax. Families earning more would be entitled to $30 credit. These amounts will increase by $10 a year and be capped once reaching $100/year. It is estimated that more than 200,000 Idaho families earn less than $25,000/year. Seniors will get $50/year and this figure will go up to $100 over time. The total estimated cost by 2015 will be around $150 million which includes the cost of the current exemption.
2. Elimination of the Business Personal Property Tax
-- This legislation will be before the Rev and Tax Committee this next week. I talked with Representative Dennis Lake who is Chair of the Rev and Tax Committee. We reviewed the figures for Latah County. There are about 2,300 businesses in Latah County who would benefit from the elimination of the personal property tax on equipment. The way the legislation is written the fiscal impact on the county would be neutral and would not have to increase property taxes to pay for the loss of the personal property income tax. This should be a good piece of legislation.
3.
Highway Construction -- Governor Otter withdrew his proposal to hike the fee for all car registrations up to $150. A storm of protests from citizens and legislators axed the idea. There are some legislators who are drawing up proposals for an increasing car registration fees but on a tiered system. Other ideas for coming up with about $200,000,000 for a deficit in the transportation budget are being explored.
4.
Reducing Property Taxes -- A bill that would override county and city budgets was approved Friday on a 38-29 vote. The bill will give voters the right to reduce the budget for any taxing district where property tax revenue exceeded $250,000/year.
5.
Field Burning -- HB557 is the bill that should resolve a 10 year struggle between Idaho's blue grass growers and health oriented groups who were concerned with smoke related health issues. After over a year of mediation HB557 was agreed to by all parties and it is on the fast track to the Governor's Office. Under the legislation growers will be able to grow 20,000 acres of grass a year. DEQ will monitor the program.
6.
Big Tax Breaks for AREVA -- The House voted 41-27 to give millions of tax breaks to a French Nuclear Company. The plan is to build a new uranium enrichment facility near the INL facility in Eastern Idaho. I voted against the bill simply because we have been stung several times by voting in big tax breaks for special interest companies.
7. Salaries -- State Employees will receive about a 3% salary increase based on merit. Teachers will on the average receive about a 2.5% salary increase. The salary for new teachers
will be hiked up to $31,750/year. When taking into consideration that the inflation rate is over 3%, many state employees and teachers will actually be falling behind.
That's all for this week.
The days will be getting longer as we head down the final two to three weeks of the session. Candidates will be filing to run in the primaries starting March 10th. I plan on running for another term.
Please send me your comments and observations. My e mail is ttrail@house.idaho.gov and telephone
is 208-332-1184.
Representative Tom Trail
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