[Vision2020] Idaho Uranium tax-break boondoggle

[Tim Lohrmann]

ALERT ! ! !

Contact Legislators by midnight, Sunday, February, 24. Tell them, do not introduce this legislation !

Areva, a giant nuclear company controlled by the French government, met late last week with about 20 Idaho lawmakers to pitch massive tax breaks for construction of a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant on private land in Bonneville County. 

Legislation will soon be introduced to cap the $2 billion plant's tax valuation at $400 million, radically shortchanging local property tax rolls and the public services they support. Another bill in the pipeline would exempt Areva and other energy companies from sales tax on production equipment. Sales tax exemptions have been an ongoing sore spot in Idaho's effort to adequately fund essential state services.

The property and sales tax deals should be Dead on Arrival at the Statehouse, and with your help, they will be.

Idaho might get a couple of hundred jobs. We will surely get tons of nuclear waste. Areva's profits will not even stay in this country.

CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR!

Idaho doesn't have enough money to meet current, legitimate public needs. We have a $200 million backlog in transportation projects, a gaping hole in its medicaid program, a crisis in managing its prison population, immense education needs, underpaid state employees.

We've been burned before. The Idaho State Legislature gave Micron and Albertson's sweet tax deals that boosted corporate profits instead of community development. In Areva's case, the profits wouldn't even necessarily stay in this country.

Uranium enrichment waste has no place to go. It's radioactive, it's toxic, and it produces deadly gas when exposed to the moisture in air. This waste would stay here.

To oppose the sales tax exemption, contact:

Dennis M. Lake (Chair, House Revenue and Taxation Committee) mailto:dlake at house.idaho.gov and 684-4967 (h)

Gary E. Collins (Vice Chair) mailto:gcollins at house.idaho.gov and 466-5460 (h)
Lenore Hardy Barrett mailto:lbarrett at house.idaho.gov and 879-2797 (h)
Mike Moyle mailto:mmoyle at house.idaho.gov and 286-7842 (h)
Robert E. Schaefer mailto:rschaefe at house.idaho.govand 466-3636 (h)
Leon E. Smith mailto:lsmith at house.idaho.gov and 733-0843 (h)
Dell Raybould mailto:drayboul at house.idaho.gov and 356-6837 (h)
Ken A. Roberts mailto:kroberts at house.idaho.gov and 325-8351 (h)
JoAn E. Wood mailto:jawood at house.idaho.gov and 745-7846 (h)
Jim Clark mailto:phart at house.idaho.gov and 683-0456 (h)
R. J. Harwood mailto:dharwood at house.idaho.gov and 245-4446 (h)
Scott Bedke mailto:sbedke at house.idaho.gov and 862-3619 (h)
Phil Hart mailto:phart at house.idaho.gov and 683-0456 (h)
George C. Sayler mailto:gsayler at house.idaho.gov 664-2728 (h)
Wendy Jaquet mailto:wjaquet at house.idaho.gov and 726-3100 (h)
Nicole LeFavour mailto:nlefavou at house.idaho.gov and 724-0468 (h)
William M. Killen mailto:bkillen at house.idaho.gov and 345-2956 (h)
James D. Ruchti mailto:jruchti at house.idaho.gov and 233-6619 (h)

To oppose the property tax exemption, contact:

*** Brent Hill (Chair, Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee) He wrote the bill 
mailto:bhill at senate.idaho.govand 356-7495 (h)

Tim Corder (Vice Chair) mailto:tcorder at senate.idaho.gov and 587-8562 (h)
Joe Stegner mailto:jstegner at senate.idaho.gov and 743-3032 (h)
Curt McKenzie mailto:cmckenzi at senate.idaho.gov and 486-1027 (h)
Jeff C. Siddoway mailto:jsiddoway at senate.idaho.gov and 663-4584 (h)
Leland G. Heinrich mailto:lheinrich at senate.idaho.gov and 382-3244 (h)
Shirley McKague mailto:smckague at senate.idaho.govand 888-2842 (h)
David Langhorst mailto:dlanghor at senate.idaho.govand 853-0307 (h)
Diane Bilyeu mailto:dbilyeu at senate.idaho.govand 237-3158 (h)


PS. Check out the front page of our web site, www.snakeriveralliance.org, for the NEW segment called "Clean Energy News." While some parts are still under construction, we are publishing our IDAHO ENERGY UPDATES. The updates on Legislature and state agencies, Idaho's utilities and regulators, and topical clean energy developments in Idaho and the Northwest - all designed to help you follow and participate in Idaho energy issues. 

Our postal address is 
PO Box 1731
Boise, Idaho 83701
United States


       
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