On Friday, the House Revenue and Taxation Committee introduced HB332, a bill to slash income tax rates with the benefits flowing overwhelmingly to those at the top of the income spectrum. The legislation also provides a lopsided one-time tax rebate equivalent to 9% of a taxpayer’s state income tax due in 2019, or a floor of $50 per person. Under …
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Work, family and our children. These are the values embedded in the Idaho Working Families Agenda that House Democrats unveiled this week. We propose a package of tax and budget solutions that deliver benefits to Idahoans who are often overlooked. The agenda has three components: tax credits for working Idaho families, lower property taxes for homeowners and seniors, and targeted …
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On Friday, the House majority leader introduced a bill in the Revenue and Taxation Committee to completely eliminate the property tax that businesses pay on their equipment over 10 years. Rep. Mike Moyle, R-Star, proposed to replace the revenue lost to local governments with General Fund dollars, but at a fixed level that will not adjust to the future cost …
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The House Minority Caucus unveiled its “Idaho Working Families Agenda,” a comprehensive plan to deliver tax benefits to working families and boost critical education investments to help Idaho children learn basic skills, including reading. House Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, presented the proposal during a virtual news conference at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday with members of the media. Necochea …
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As the saying goes, “Don’t tell me what your values are. Show me your budget and I’ll tell you what your values are.” Our annual state budget transforms the values of our lawmakers into action: how deeply we care about children, seniors, education, health care access and much more. Our budget demonstrates whether we are creating opportunities for Idahoans to …
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On Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers demonstrated their continued commitment to restoring fairness to Idaho’s property tax system, and presented multiple proposals to better protect homeowners as home prices rapidly rise. Sen. Grant Burgoyne, Rep. John Gannon, and Rep. Lauren Necochea, each of whom have done extensive work on the subject, discussed the various pieces of upcoming property tax legislation with members …
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Dear Governor Little, Idaho is at a crossroads and human lives are at stake. As Nurse Connelly said during your press conference, 3,000 people died in the U.S. from COVID-19 today alone. That is more than the number of lives lost in the 9/11 terrorist attack. The people who have died are not just numbers on a spreadsheet. They had …
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As we face a global pandemic and the resulting economic fallout, Idahoans may have been hopeful about the legislature’s recent special session. Since the pandemonium at the Statehouse dominated the news, Idahoans may still be wondering what was actually accomplished. The answer, unfortunately, is not much. Republican legislators spent most of the time pandering to the far right, and the …
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Republican politicians have had supermajority control of the legislature and every statewide office for decades. Under their governance, Idaho has sunk to 51st place in education investment (and, remarkably, now they want to cut another $99 million from our education budget). For seven years they refused to even allow a vote on Medicaid expansion, leaving many thousands of Idahoans to …
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Idaho can have the brightest future possible when we are inclusive and ensure that everyone has opportunities to contribute to the success of their community. Unfortunately, our state is moving away from these ideals. It is a dark day when the governor signs three discriminatory bills into law at once, as he did this week. House bill 440 will remove …
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