Mon., March 2, 2009

‘Not at the head of their class’

Senate Tax Chairman Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, explains to legislative budget writers how the tax provisions in the federal stimulus bill will affect Idaho's state tax revenues. If Idaho conforms its tax provisions, which it must to avoid big hassles for taxpayers, the changes will cost the state more than $14 million in annual state income tax revenue. (Betsy Russell / The Spokesman-Review)

Senate Tax Chairman Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, is explaining to lawmakers this morning how the tax changes in the federal stimulus bill affect Idaho's state tax revenues. In his lead-in, he read a long and entirely incomprehensible passage from the law to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. At the end, there was laughter, and Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, said, "You had me at 'whereas.' " Said Hill, "The people who wrote this were not at the top of their class." He then proceeded to a bit of "Income Tax 101" before sharing details of the changes.

Posted March 2, 2009, 7:45 a.m.