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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>From
today’s (April 2, 2008) Spokesman Review –<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>---------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Lawmakers
stall over business tax break <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>House
rejects Senate amendments<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>House
Bill 599, Relating to Taxation of Personal Property<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><a
href="http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/H0599.html">http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/H0599.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Senate
Amendment to House Bill 599<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><a
href="http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/H0599.html#amnd">http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/H0599.html#amnd</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>BOISE</span></font></st1:City><font size=2><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> – The fate of a tax break for businesses
brought <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Idaho</st1:place></st1:State>'s
over-long legislative session to a standstill Tuesday, with the House refusing
to go along with the Senate's unanimous remake of a giant tax break into a much
smaller exemption.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>The
result is that <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Idaho</st1:place></st1:State>
lawmakers will be in session today, when they had hoped to adjourn nearly two
weeks ago. "I had planned to go home tomorrow but obviously that plan has
changed," state Rep. Frank Henderson, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">R-Post</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Falls</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
said late Tuesday as he left the House chamber.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>The
Senate had rewritten legislation to phase in a $120 million-a-year tax break
for businesses to transform it into a $15.5 million annual break. By exempting
just the first $75,000 in value from the property tax on business equipment
– rather than repealing the tax entirely – the Senate version frees
86 percent of Idaho businesses from paying the tax at all, and costs the state
just $15.5 million a year.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>State
Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, the sponsor of the original tax break bill,
House Bill 599, said $75,000 is "just an arbitrary number. Why isn't it $1
million?" he asked the House. "Why isn't it $2 million?"<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Clark</span></font></st1:place><font size=2><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> led the House debate against concurring with the
Senate amendments, and his motion carried, 43-25. The House and Senate then
each appointed three members to a conference committee to attempt to work out
differences over the bill; the conference committee, on which <st1:place w:st="on">Clark</st1:place>
will serve, will meet at 8 a.m. today.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>"I
think they are as willing as we are to find us a better bill," <st1:place
w:st="on">Clark</st1:place> said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>But
some senators were disappointed. "I frankly think the amendments were
good," said state Sen. Mike Jorgenson, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">R-Hayden</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Lake</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.
"I don't think we can afford to do what the House proposed, $120
million."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Said
state Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint: "I thought the Senate had a good
compromise that moved us toward elimination of the tax, but recognized that the
state couldn't afford to shift that tax in the manner that was proposed in the
original bill."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>The
Senate amendments to the bill had passed that chamber unanimously, with strong
support from both parties.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Senate
Tax Chairman Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, told the House Revenue and Taxation
Committee on Tuesday that senators chose the $75,000 figure to offer businesses
relief comparable to the homeowner's exemption from property tax. The
homeowner's exemption is $89,325 now, but it's pegged to an index of <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Idaho</st1:place></st1:State> housing prices, so
it's likely to drop in the future, Hill said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>"I
guess we did not want to give the impression to the public as a whole that we
liked business $12,000 more than we liked individuals," Hill told House
members. But he said if the House wanted to raise the exemption to $100,000,
the Senate might not object.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>The
committee voted 10-6 to recommend that the full House not go along with the
Senate amendments. The panel's five Democrats, including House Assistant
Minority Leader George Sayler, D-Coeur d'Alene, joined GOP Rep. JoAn Wood, of
Rigby, in opposing that recommendation, but it carried.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Backers
of the Senate version of the bill said making more changes now could kill the
bill, meaning <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Idaho</st1:place></st1:State>
businesses won't get any tax break.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Alex
LaBeau, president of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, a business
lobbying group that proposed the original bill, told the House committee that
his group opposes the Senate amendments. He said IACI would accept the $75,000
cap only if other changes were made too, including applying the new exemption
to utility property like power lines and declaring all newly acquired business
equipment to be exempt from the tax.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Rep.
Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, said she's "uneasy about how 'creative' this
conference committee might decide to get. It would have been much better to
have concurred in the amendments."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Lawmakers
hope to end their 2008 legislative session today. The conference committee's
deliberations "likely will take place in an hour or two in the morning at
the most," House GOP Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, told a
somewhat skeptical House. "We should have this under control by afternoon
and be able to go home tomorrow."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>How
they voted <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>North Idaho</span></font></st1:place><font size=2><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> representatives split in the 43-25 House vote to
reject Senate amendments to House Bill 599:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Voting
yes: Reps. Jim Clark, <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">R-Hayden</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Lake</st1:PlaceType>; Phil Hart, R-Athol; Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries;
Frank Henderson, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">R-Post</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Falls</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>; and Bob Nonini,
R-Coeur d'Alene.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Voting
no: Reps. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake; George Eskridge, R-Dover; Shirley
Ringo, D-Moscow; George Sayler, D-Coeur d'Alene; Mary Lou Shepherd, D-Prichard;
and Tom Trail, R-Moscow.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>---------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Seeya
round town, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moscow</st1:place></st1:City>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Tom
Hansen<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Moscow</span></font></st1:City><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>, <st1:State w:st="on">Idaho</st1:State></span></font></st1:place><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>"Each
time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or
strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope."<br>
<br>
Robert F. Kennedy<br>
(1925-1968, American Attorney General, Senator)</span></font><font size=2><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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