BOISE, Idaho —
This story originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Though some tempers flared, and the governor made a last-minute change in the bill, Gov. Brad Little’s tax cuts and education funding bill sailed relatively smoothly through a single-day special session of the Idaho Legislature on Thursday and was signed into law before sundown.
Outgoing state Rep. Steven Harris, R-Meridian, the bill’s lead legislative sponsor, called it “pretty fun, pretty cool” that lawmakers were able to consider giving big income tax rebates to Idahoans; HB 1 calls for $500 million in one-time rebates, with a minimum of $300 for an individual or $600 for a married couple filing jointly, and the money could start going out within weeks.
The bill also permanently lowers Idaho’s individual and corporate income tax rates to a new flat rate of 5.8%, collapsing the current graduated individual income tax brackets into one while also exempting more income for lower-income taxpayers. As a result, no income taxpayer would see an increase under the bill.
But most of the attention during the one-day session was on the education funding proposal, which will earmark $410 million a year, permanently, out of Idaho’s sales tax proceeds, with $330 million of that going directly to the public school income fund for K-12 public schools, and $80 million to a new “in-demand careers” fund for higher education, community colleges and workforce training. Originally, the bill included a 3% annual inflation factor for that $410 million funding shift, but Little removed the inflator from the bill on the eve of the special session.
House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said, “Against our screaming objections, that was pulled out by Republicans at the last minute. … The only group left completely unprotected against inflation are the children.”
Little said in a statement, “I am proud of my legislative partners for confronting the substantial impacts of inflation head on by putting our record budget surplus back in the pockets of Idahoans while responsibly funding education at historic levels to ensure we are meeting our constitutional and moral obligation to Idaho students and families both in the short-term and the long-term.”
Surprising everyone, including his own staff, Little signed the bill into law immediately after receiving it, at 6:27 p.m. on Thursday. That was six minutes after the Senate adjourned and two minutes before the House adjourned.
Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, said during the House debate on the bill, “I absolutely do not like this bill in any way, shape or form. … There clearly is no emergency on school funding.”
Rep. Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton, who like Boyle voted against the bill in the House, voted in favor of it earlier in the day in committee. She told the House that politicians often say they’re doing things “for the kids” but it doesn’t end up that way. “This bill is more about giving money to education than it is about tax relief. I don’t feel that I can support it in this manner,” she said.
But just 15 House members and one senator, all Republicans, voted against the bill. Some lawmakers decried portions of the bill, but said they’d still support it.
“Our working families need immediate help right now to address the rising cost of gas prices and groceries,” said Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise. “Our children and grandchildren need an education system that allows them to compete in the global economy. … We’ve dug a pretty deep hole when it comes to education spending. We’ve been last in per-pupil expenditures for far too long.”
She said, “Our children are counting on us to give them all the opportunities that children in other states have. This is not the end-all. We’re not done. We have more work to do.”
During a joint House-Senate committee hearing on the bill, 15 people testified, eight of them in favor of the bill, six opposed, and one not taking a position but praising the crafting of bill’s tax provisions. “This was well done,” said Miguel Legarreta, head of the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho.
West Ada teacher Zach Borman told the lawmakers, "The truth is our students are being shortchanged and have been for some time. Educational resources are stretched too thin. Classrooms are overcrowded. Educators increasingly find themselves simply trying to fend off chaos, and exhaustion at the expense of engaging students in learning and building valuable skills."
“This is not a system working the way it should,” he said. “It's no wonder educators are leaving our profession in unprecedented numbers. The weight may be bearable for a while, but too long or too much and they will break."
Brianna Gibson, a fifth-year teacher in the Vallivue School District, said, "I am here to testify in favor of the education funding in this legislation. It’s desperately needed as a first strong step away from Idaho’s chronic underfunding of public education.”
“I’ve been questioning whether my choice of career is valued in our society anymore,” Gibson said, “…whether the voters who just yesterday rejected a bond measure in my district to help build two desperately need elementary schools in our district, truly understand and care about the impact of their vote. I’m hopeful today because of Gov. Little’s proposal."
Opponents included Lorna Mitson, who told the committee, "The school districts aren't being underfunded, they're being mismanaged."
Brian Almon told the lawmakers, “Giving back the public their tax dollars that they overpaid, I think that’s a fantastic idea. I have to oppose it because it’s tied to more funding for education.”
But state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra told the committee, “The passage of this legislation is the right step at the right time. It'll send a loud and clear message to Idahoans that education is a top priority. … I urge you to support this bill."
The small minority of lawmakers opposing the bill tried several parliamentary maneuvers to block it the House, but all failed. Nichols tried to send the bill to the House’s amending order, but her motion died on a 13-57 vote. Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, tried another parliamentary maneuver to split the bill that failed on a 22-48 vote. She drew repeated objections in the House for her comments, including about sexually explicit materials, critical race theory and kids graduating from school who “don't know if they're a boy or a girl.”
"The system is broken in our schools," Scott told the House. "I am not willing to give them any more money at this point, even though it means that I vote against a tax cut."
Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, debated strenuously against the bill, his voice at times rising to a shout. “The process is broken,” he declared, saying other bills should have been considered instead.
Nichols said, “This bill is more about giving money to education than it is about tax relief. I don’t feel that I can support it in this manner.”
Rep. Laurie Lickley, R-Jerome, spoke out in favor of the bill. "My voters, my constituents across the board are asking for help," she said.
Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, raised concerns about the bill in her House debate. “Idaho’s students and teachers have been last in the nation for too long,” she told the House. “Our facilities are in disrepair, classrooms are overcrowded, vacancies are hard to fill. In fact, while we were sitting in that committee hearing, I got an email from my child’s school about a vacancy that they are struggling to fill.”
She said, “This bill is clearly a response to and an end run around the education initiative. I’ve never seen a tax bill with an effective date of Jan. 3, I don’t think any of you have either.” The bill, she said, is “carefully crafted to undo the Quality Education Act,” by imposing new tax provisions that would replace it two days after it would have taken effect.
Luke Mayville, co-founder of Reclaim Idaho, the grassroots group that qualified the initiative for the ballot, said in a statement, “Even as this bill aims to subvert the Quality Education Act, it hands a major victory to Reclaim Idaho’s thousands of volunteers and supporters. It’s clear that an investment in education on this scale would never have been considered by this legislature before the Quality Education Act earned a place on the ballot.”
Necochea also said she opposes the new flat tax, because it would make a teacher or other lower-paid worker pay the same tax rate as a billionaire CEO. And she noted that the new corporate tax rate of 5.8% would be less than the 6% sales tax. “A corporation pays a lower tax rate on its profits than working Idahoans pay for food. For diapers, for medicines and for other basic necessities. Do those sound like Idaho values? It doesn’t sound like my values,” she said.
Nevertheless, she said she’d vote for the bill because of the education funding. “That’s an important first step,” she said. “Our work is not done, but it’s crucial that we do something.”
This story originally appeared in the Idaho Press. Read more at IdahoPress.com
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