Property Tax Relief
Your House Republican Caucus is working to bring you much-needed property tax relief. Representative Jim Addis is co-sponsoring S1108, legislation which would change the cap on property tax budgets to prevent excessive increases on citizens during a period of rapid growth and skyrocketing assessment values. The bill is currently being considered in the Senate.
Cutting Disabled Veterans’ Taxes
Your Idaho House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation to cut taxes for disabled veterans. House Bill 120, co-sponsored by Representative Scott Syme, would allow disabled veterans to more easily take advantage of a special property tax reduction after they move to a new home. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.
Talking with Idahoans
Speaker of the House Scott Bedke talked about a wide range of issues on a telephone town hall hosted by AARP Idaho. First, he shared his thoughts on Idaho’s fiscal health.
“Last year, we thought we might be in a mild recession and it’s turned out to be exactly the opposite, our economy is doing very well,” said Speaker Bedke. “That’s not to say that everything is roses and clover.”
Click below to hear more from the Speaker about the challenges Idaho families are facing.
Reducing Harsh Penalties
Representative Barbara Ehardt is working to reduce overly harsh penalties for Idahoans. House Bill 197 would remove local governments’ ability to use the misdemeanor penalty when creating local ordinances. While this particular bill may not be passed in its current form, it’s starting an important conversation about the problems with misdemeanors carrying a criminal element.
“That misdemeanor clause carries a $1,000 penalty and up to six months in jail,” said Rep. Ehardt. “To allow cities and counties to be able to implement that, seems to go against what the state’s role is supposed to be.”
Creating Competition
House Republican Caucus members are creating a more competitive market for Idaho colleges and universities. Rep. Caroline Nilsson Troy’s House Bill 141 would establish that any contracts between any Idaho agencies and all Idaho public institutions of higher education must be awarded on a competitive basis. $22 million in service contracts went to Boise State University over the past two fiscal years and only $2 million to the University of Idaho.
“Boise State’s down the street from all the agencies and Boise State’s getting all these different grants and contracts,” said Rep. Troy.
If this bill passes, not only will there likely be savings to the Idaho taxpayer from increased competition, but also a wider disbursement of contracts.
Keep Updated
You can learn more about all the legislation being debated by our Caucus members. Just check the House Reading Calendar found at the link below:
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