<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>Ditto Wayne!</DIV>
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<DIV>I am very angry that the Idaho State Legislature voted to spend $122 million in renovations for their offices creating the short fall in the coming budget.</DIV>
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<DIV>If they did not spend so wastefully, Idaho would not be in this predicament.</DIV>
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<DIV>More realistic then holding politicians responsible for their actions, we should find the tax dodgers, cut exemptions, and place a tax on spam, smoking, and movie/theater tickets which seem to be selling like hot cakes right now. </DIV>
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<DIV>Your Friend,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Donovan Arnold<BR><BR>--- On <B>Wed, 1/6/10, Wayne Price <I><bear@moscow.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><BR>From: Wayne Price <bear@moscow.com><BR>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] pre-legislative newsletter from Rep. Tom Trail<BR>To: ttrail@moscow.com<BR>Cc: vision2020@moscow.com<BR>Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 10:15 PM<BR><BR>
<DIV class=plainMail>Tom,<BR><BR>I understand that money is VERY tight, but we just spent some 122 <BR>million dollars on the remodel of the Capital Building, that I believe <BR>was paid for with dollars from the "smoking tax".<BR>Now that we have that paid for, why not use another 122 million, or <BR>more from that same tax to fill that 151 million dollar deficit?<BR><BR>i guess the problem the way I see it is that we have a great office <BR>building for the Legislature and Governor, and now that you have new <BR>offices to work in, we're being told there are cuts in services, <BR>programs and other reductions.<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR><BR>Wayne Price<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>On Jan 6, 2010, at 11:57 AM, Rep. Tom Trail wrote:<BR><BR>> <SPAN>PRE</SPAN>-LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER--IDAHO LEGISLATURE 2010<BR>><BR>> Constituents:<BR>><BR>> The Idaho Legislature will open on January 11<SPAN>th</SPAN>.
The Economy will<BR>> dominate what takes place this session. Idaho faces a $151 million<BR>> deficit as of July 1st. Agencies cut 4% from their budgets, but still<BR>> have a $50 hole. The Governor will outline his plans on January 11th.<BR>> Further reductions in state agency spending and consolidating some <BR>> agency<BR>> programs may be some of the options that he will talk about.<BR>><BR>> 1. Budget and Taxes -- There are basically four ways to balance the<BR>> budget or a combination of some of these options.<BR>><BR>> a. Cut agency budgets and programs -- this appears to be the <BR>> option<BR>> that the Governor will select. Public education and Higher<BR>> Education will no doubt see further reductions. This would be one<BR>> of the few times that public education would suffer a cut. Many<BR>> quality programs from
our universities and colleges will have to be<BR>> eliminated. Outstanding faculty have already left the University of<BR>> Idaho seeking more stable conditions. Further cuts in Medicaid may<BR>> occur. One has to ask the question at what point do we allow the<BR>> quality of our educational programs not to further go downhill.<BR>><BR>> b. Examine Our Tax Exemption System -- To date we have 75 tax <BR>> tax<BR>> exemptions which total up to be about $1.8 billion/year. Each<BR>> exemption benefits in general a small group of citizens or an<BR>> organization. The money from the exemption does not flow into the<BR>> state general fund but, in fact, can be viewed as a cost to those<BR>> taxpayers not benefiting from the exemption.<BR>><BR>> A tax exemption is granted by the State on the basis that it<BR>> will be a benefit
to the State. However, to date no system has<BR>> been set up to require the beneficiaries of an exemption to come<BR>> before the Legislature to present in a transparent and accountable <BR>> way to<BR>> prove the exemption's value to the State. If an exemption was found <BR>> not<BR>> to be beneficial to the State then the funds could flow to the State<BR>> general fund and be used for priority programs. I am working with <BR>> several<BR>> legislators who will be proposing that we Sunset all 75 exemptions <BR>> and set<BR>> up a system to evaluate all 75 exemptions on a timely basis.<BR>><BR>> c. Go After Those Who Have Not Paid Their Taxes -- The Office of<BR>> Performance Evaluation estimates that about $300 million in taxes go<BR>> unpaid each year. The IRS reports the figure to be about $350 <BR>> million.<BR>>
Governor Phil Batt approved hiring additional auditors back in 1996<BR>> and the returns were about one to ten. Six years the state spent<BR>> $900,000 on auditors and got back $12 million. The Tax Commission in<BR>> November outlined a strategy--with $10 million to hire 164 auditors<BR>> the return would be about $65 million--more than enough to close<BR>> budget gap. This is an initiative that I can strongly support.<BR>><BR>> d. Raise Taxes -- This will not be a popular idea among many<BR>> legislators; however, the evidence appears that the blood-letting<BR>> with a series of budget cuts already experienced by public<BR>> education, higher education, and other programs has caused<BR>> irreversible damage-- then all options should be on the table.<BR>><BR>> Tax cuts for corporations are being advocated by some <BR>>
Republican<BR>> legislators. I'm opposed to this legislative initiative. Idaho<BR>> has a very poor track record in granting tax breaks to lure big<BR>> corporations into the state or not to move out of the state. The <BR>> case of<BR>> Micron and Albertson stand out as key examples. Cash strapped<BR>> communities across the country have a message for corporations that<BR>> promised jobs in return for big tax breaks. Many corporations and<BR>> businesses that were granted tax abatements and other incentives <BR>> simply<BR>> did not deliver the promised number of jobs and other economic<BR>> enhancements. The newfound strength comes as states that have long <BR>> bent<BR>> over backward to lure companies and jobs to the tune of $60 billion/ <BR>> year.<BR>> Agreements are now being written that will take<BR>> away the property tax break or a
portion of it if the company<BR>> does not keep its promise or commitment.<BR>><BR>> 2. Other--There will be many other specific legislative endeavors <BR>> and<BR>> issues that will emerge during the session, but the economy is the<BR>> dominating theme at this time. Idaho's unemployment rate is about <BR>> 10%<BR>> and this doesn't include those whose benefits have already run out.<BR>> Idaho has paid out as much as $16 million/week in terms of <BR>> unemployment<BR>> benefits.<BR>><BR>> Please send me your comments and suggestions to Rep. Tom Trail<BR>><BR>> e-mail: <A href="http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ttrail@house.idaho.gov" ymailto="mailto:ttrail@house.idaho.gov">ttrail@house.idaho.gov</A><BR>><BR>> Rep. Tom Trail<BR>><BR>><BR>> =======================================================<BR>> List
services made available by First Step Internet,<BR>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<BR>> <A href="http://www.fsr.net/" target=_blank>http://www.fsr.net</A><BR>> mailto:<A href="http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Vision2020@moscow.com" ymailto="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</A><BR>> =======================================================<BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR> <A href="http://www.fsr.net/" target=_blank>http://www.fsr.net</A> <BR> &nb<SPAN>sp;
ma</SPAN>ilto:<A href="http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Vision2020@moscow.com" ymailto="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</A><BR>=======================================================<BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></td></tr></table><br>