<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span>Where else are the people paying too much? Where else can taxes be cut?:</span></div><div><br><span></span></div><div class="fontincrease">
<div>BOISE, ID – State lawmakers Wednesday stopped a bill to tax internet
sales. More than two hours of public testimony ended in a tie vote by
members of Idaho’s House Revenue and Taxation Committee. That means the
bill will likely die.</div>
<div>Republican Representative Lenore Hardy Barrett of Custer County voted
against the measure. She said, “We need to cut out all of this kind of
thing and work on cutting spending, cutting taxes, and downsizing
government.”</div>
<div>The 79-page bill to streamline Idaho sales and use taxes would have
conformed to a measure being considered in Congress. The bill’s
sponsor, Representative Jeff Nesset, estimates that an internet sales
tax on Idahoans would generate $35 million a year.</div>
<div>Copyright 2012 Boise State Public Radio</div>
</div><div> </div><div>Ron Force<br>Moscow Idaho USA<br></div> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Betsy Dickow <betsyd@turbonet.com><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> 'Tom Hansen' <thansen@moscow.com>; 'Moscow Vision 2020' <Vision2020@moscow.com> <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Friday, March 2, 2012 8:19 AM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Vision2020] Tax Cut on Higher Incomes Advances<br> </font> </div> <br>
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--></style><div><div class="yiv779976857WordSection1"><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"sans-serif";color:#1F497D;">This is disgusting, is it not?!</span></div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"sans-serif";color:#1F497D;"> </span></div><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;"><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"sans-serif";">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"sans-serif";"> vision2020-bounces@moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Tom Hansen<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, March 02, 2012 4:10 AM<br><b>To:</b> Moscow Vision 2020<br><b>Subject:</b> [Vision2020] Tax Cut on Higher Incomes Advances</span></div></div></div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div><div><div
class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">"'<span class="yiv779976857apple-style-span">The governor has recommended that we not collect this money, that we’re collecting too much,' said Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, one of the bill’s 40 House co-sponsors."</span></div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"><br><br></div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"><span class="yiv779976857apple-style-span">So, Guv Butch's response to three years of budget cuts, drastically affecting education and those on Medicaid, is to give a tax cut to the upper income bracket and corporations because "we’re collecting too much"?</span></div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"><br><br></div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"><span class="yiv779976857apple-style-span">Well . . .</span></div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"><br><br></div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"><span
class="yiv779976857apple-style-span">Today's tax cuts are tomorrow's budget cuts, right Butch?</span></div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">Courtesy of today's (March 2, 2012) Spokesman-Review.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">---------------------------</div></div><div><h1 style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;vertical-align:baseline;border-color:initial;outline-width:0px;outline-color:initial;"><span style="font-size:21.0pt;font-family:"sans-serif";">Tax cut on higher incomes advances</span></h1><h5 style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.0pt;margin-left:0in;vertical-align:baseline;border-color:initial;outline-width:0px;outline-color:initial;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"sans-serif";color:#444444;font-weight:normal;">Idaho measure also lowers
tax rate on corporations</span></h5><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">BOISE – A $36 million tax cut for Idaho’s top earners is roaring through the Idaho Legislature, backed by Gov. Butch Otter and co-sponsored by a majority of the members of the Idaho House.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">The move comes even as the state is reeling from three years of deep budget cuts to everything from schools to Medicaid, very few of which are being restored.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">“The governor has recommended that we not collect this money, that we’re collecting too much,” said Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, one of the bill’s 40 House co-sponsors.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">“It’s probably the
best economic development bill we’ve seen all year,” declared House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, HB 563’s lead sponsor. The bill passed the House on a 49-20 vote Thursday and now heads to the Senate.Otter opened the door to the tax cut by challenging lawmakers at the start of this year’s legislative session to enact $45 million in unspecified tax cuts. This proposal, at $35.7 million, is slightly less, but so is the figure lawmakers adopted for the state budget next year. They set a revenue forecast $33.3 million below the governor’s, meaning they have that much less to spend, whether for tax cuts, state services or to refill the state’s drained reserves.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">The bill would lower Idaho’s top individual income tax rate from 7.8 percent to 7.4 percent, and lower the corporate tax rate from 7.6 percent to 7.4 percent. That would take
$35.7 million a year out of the state’s tax revenue stream starting next year.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">Opponents of HB 563 – 12 Democrats and eight Republicans in the House – say the state can’t afford a tax cut when it’s still struggling with the impact of three years of budget cuts. They’re also raising questions about whether trimming taxes really constitutes economic development.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">“Every study I’ve seen says cutting taxes in and of itself does nothing to further economic growth, even though I recognize that’s a strong belief by many in this body,” said Rep. Bill Killen, D-Boise, who added that investing in higher education would have more impact. “I certainly don’t think giving money back in the hope that it’ll somehow generate jobs
is a very intelligent way to go about it.”</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">House Tax Chairman Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, is a high-profile opponent of the bill. “We are creating a structural deficit in our revenue stream that we cannot deal with, without at some time in the future raising taxes,” Lake said.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">He warned that to sustain the permanent tax cut, Idaho would have to see 7.8 percent growth in state revenues next year. Lawmakers adopted a revenue forecast showing just 4.5 percent growth next year.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">Lake, who isn’t seeking re-election, told the House, “I’m fortunate, I’m not going to be here next year to deal with that issue, but some of you
are, and you’d better think about it very carefully.”</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, said he supports putting the money back into the pockets of taxpayers. “When we take tax dollars from people and we take more than we can actually use, we’re saying we can use it more than you do,” Harwood said.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">But Rep. Brian Cronin, D-Boise, noted that Idaho voters have been approving school property tax levy increases to make up for state funding cuts, “district after district, year after year, to compensate for the deficit in K-12 appropriations that we’ve failed to deliver. … It’s a shell game.”</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">Idaho’s new state
Department of Commerce chief, Jeff Sayer, is backing the bill, but he’s not suggesting the tax cut by itself will create jobs. Instead, he lauded its symbolic value in discussions with businesses looking to relocate.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">“One of the challenges we have is our tax rate is not competitive,” Sayer said. “Underneath that, our effective rates are lower, but the challenge is window dressing. … We don’t make the cut, because our corporate rate is higher and that sticks out.”</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">---------------</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><h5 style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:2.25pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:13.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;border-color:initial;outline-width:0px;outline-color:initial;"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"sans-serif";">How they voted</span></h5><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.5pt;"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"sans-serif";"> </span></div></div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">North Idaho’s House members in Districts 1-6 voted in favor of the tax-cut bill, except for Reps. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, and Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">---------------</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><h5 style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:2.25pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:13.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;border-color:initial;outline-width:0px;outline-color:initial;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"sans-serif";">Who would benefit from tax cut</span></h5><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">
</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">Idaho’s proposed $35.7 million tax cut would go only to those paying Idaho’s corporate income tax, and to top earners who now pay the state’s highest rate for individual income tax. For a single person who doesn’t itemize and takes the standard deduction, that equates to a minimum gross income of $36,260 to start getting any tax break. For a married couple filing jointly with no dependents, it’s $72,520. For a couple with two children, it’s $79,920. Just over 17 percent of Idaho income tax filers would benefit from the cut; taxes for lower earners wouldn’t change.</div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"><span class="yiv779976857apple-style-span">---------------------------</span></div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"><span class="yiv779976857apple-style-span"> </span><br><br></div><div><div
class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">Seeya later, Moscow.</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">Tom Hansen</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">Post Falls, Idaho</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">"If not us, who?</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">If not now, when?"</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal">- Unknown</div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="yiv779976857MsoNormal"> </div></div></div></div></div></div><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 ymailto="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com" href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>=======================================================<br><br> </div> </div> </div></body></html>