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Rep. Tom Trail |
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LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER V--February 7-13/2009 Constituents: As we near the midpoint of the 2009 Legislative Session, the economy and negative impact on budgets is by far the major topics of discussion.
Rather than dwell in this newsletter on those two topics, I am going to report on some other issues of interest being reviewed in the legislative process. On the lighter side, I asked President Griffin, of the College of Western Idaho, about their football team and congratulated him on their not losing a game yet. Of course, they don't have a football team yet, but he did say they have a name of their teams -- the Fighting Otters (Could it be pandering to the Governor). I guess the Fighting Otters is a better than the Banana Slugs -- (University of California Santa-Cruz).
1. Latah County Soil Conservation District -- Cody Anderson, a supervisor for Latah County Soil Conservation District visited Boise and sat in on a report by the Idaho Soil Conservation Office and State Association in both the Senate and House Ag Committees. There have been problems between the Soil Conservation Districts and the Idaho Soil Conservation Commission. One of the major problems was the release by the Commission of personal/private data (social security, bank account numbers, tax numbers, etc.) posted on their website. I've drafted two pieces of legislation stemming from this incident that would strive to more firmly protect Idaho citizens from the misuse of their private information by state agencies and their employees.
2. Personal Business Property Tax--The Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry wants to make "operating property" eligible for the tax break which exempts the
first $100,000 of business equipment from taxes.
The IACI wants the exemption extended to power lines and railroads. However, it will take years before the $100,000 exemption takes effect because the measure also requires tax revenues to rise by 5 percent from 2008 collections to trigger the exemption. This will not happen soon because of the economic slump.
3. Consolidated Elections -- Key legislators are pushing to cut elections to just four dates annually. In this version, school elections could be in March and August and other elections in May and November. Our Latah County Clerk and Commissioners are not supportive of the legislation unless there is state money coming in to help the County Clerk and her staff with the expanded work load. I see no chance of this and since it would put an added tax burden on our local citizens, I will vote against it.
4. Grocery Tax Credit --
Last year the Legislature passed legislation which approved the grocery tax credit. Personally I don't think we should delay the increase in the grocery tax credit -- which would give the state nearly $15 million more in revenue. I feel that we made a commitment as legislators and should honor this commitment. The grocery tax credit provides a course for eventually eliminating the tax. In short, the bill provides a $50 credit for the most needy and $30 for all other Idahoans. The tax credit goes up by increments of $10/yr until it reaches $100. The credit is an exclusive benefit for Idahoans. Tourists and visitors will continue to pay the sales tax.
5. Tax Auditors
-- I continue to shake my head in wonderment as we look for additional revenues. In the Boise Statesman this week a report outlined that many part time auditor positions were being eliminated from the Idaho Tax Commission. The cost of the positions was about $1 million and that the auditors brought in about $7 million in unpaid taxes -- for a net gain to the state fund of $6 million. We also lose about $4 million a year in federal highways funds because we do not have a helmet required law for motorcyclists. A review of all of the 75 tax exemptions we have to see if they do or do not provide a benefit to the state might reveal that some exemptions do not benefit the state. The elimination of these exemptions would contribute more money to the State General Fund.
6 Japanese Banks -- Japanese banks have been hit almost as hard by the economic downturn as American banks. The Origami Bank has folded; and we hear the Sumo Bank has gone belly-up too. The Bonsai Bank plans to cut some of its branches. The Karaoke Bank is for sale and is going for a song. Meanwhile the staff at the Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report there something fishy going on at the Sushi Ban where workers think they may get a raw deal.
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