Last week, the Idaho Republican Party sent out a newsletter to all of their subscribers about tax day. In the email they explained, “We will continually strive for a more fiscally responsible, limited government that spends your tax dollars wisely.” The newsletter went on to explain how the Republican legislature and Governor are invested in decreasing taxes for hardworking Idahoans.
Interestingly enough, the email failed to mention just how many tax dollars were wasted in this session. After accusing the media of misconstruing legislation several times, the Idaho GOP itself is misconstruing how they are handling your hard earned tax dollars. I think Idahoans deserve to have the full story about what happened during the 2019 legislative session. Let’s recap!
First, in 2016, the legislature capped the homeowner’s property tax exemption at $100,000 and, since then, increases in property values have resulted in massive increases in property taxes for many homeowners. The cap, combined with the increased property values, has disproportionately shifted the tax burden from commercial property to homeowners. During the 2019 legislative session, I introduced a bill that would have restored the index and brought fairness back to property tax levels. However, the Majority party did not believe that this legislation even deserved a hearing in committee so they stuck it in a drawer to die without ever getting public input. This year, Idahoans all over the state were blindsided by enormous tax bills they could not have seen coming thanks to this bad policy. Until we fix the property tax exemption, homeowners will continue to pay a disproportionate share of property taxes.
Next, several Republican legislators spent the session thwarting the will of the people by working to pass Medicaid Expansion Restrictions. While a clean expansion was shown to be the most fiscally responsible, the restriction bill that was passed will add unnecessary bureaucracy and could cost up to $40 million. Plus, many acknowledged that it will probably wind up in court. Guess who pays for those costs.
Finally, the 2019 legislative session lasted 95 days (the third longest in Idaho’s history). Each day that the Majority delayed ending the session cost taxpayers $35,000. Basically, the Majority was willing to spend the equivalent of an annual teacher’s salary per day to continue delaying getting the job done. They introduced bill after bill after the transmittal deadline (the final date we are allowed to bring legislation) while the House and Senate Democrats tried to end the session. None of those bills ended up passing, proving that they were simply wasting Idaho citizen’s time and money.
At the end of the session I’m left wondering, does the Idaho GOP know what it means to be fiscally conservative? Democratic legislators fought tooth and nail to stop unnecessary, wasteful legislation and actions that would drastically increase costs to taxpayers. We tried to find tax relief for homeowners. Unfortunately, the supermajority seemed determined to throw away the money of hardworking Idahoans.
So, the next time you go to vote for a candidate who will decrease your taxes make sure you remember who worked day in and day out to keep your money in your pocket. Vote for the true fiscal conservatives.
Maryanne Jordan is an Idaho Senator (D-Boise)