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.
Rep. Lauren Necochea
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 the bill, a couple bringing in $1 million annually would get a one-time rebate of $6,000; while a couple making $50,000 would receive only $100. The permanent tax rate cuts will be similarly lopsided, in perpetuity.
Rep. Steven Harris, R-Meridian, is sponsoring the bill, along with all four members of House Majority leadership.
“In a year when working people and small businesses have struggled profoundly, it is stunning to see another GOP plan that heaps tax breaks onto the people who need them the least,” said Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, who sits on the committee. “We ought to be targeting tax benefits to the Idaho families working hard just to make ends meet. The GOP tax plan is an example of upside-down priorities and is out of touch with the realities working Idahoans face.”
Necochea submitted legislation weeks ago to create a sliding scale tax credit for working families and increase the child tax credit, while making it fully accessible to all families, as part of the Democrats’ Idaho Working Families Agenda. It has been declined a hearing.