It already passed once, but today the Idaho Senate again passed HB 546, the business tax credits bill, this time as amended to address constitutional concerns raised in an Idaho Attorney General’s opinion. Proposed by state Commerce Director Jeff Sayer, the House-passed bill would allow existing or new businesses that create lots of new jobs that pay more than the county average wage to qualify for refundable credits equal to up to 30 percent of their corporate income, sales and payroll taxes, for up to 15 years. “After we had voted, we discovered there were problems with the bill,” said Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell. “Those have been addressed by the amendment. There is an appeal directly to the district court,” plus “some additional sideboards on this.”

Just like last time, the bill drew just six dissenting votes. “I still have issues with the premise of the bill,” said Sen. Cliff Bayer, R-Boise. The measure makes the tax credits discretionary, with the state Department of Commerce and its Economic Advisory Council deciding who should get how much. The amendments require the department to promulgate rules setting out standards for that, and to set the credit at the lowest level required to incentivize new jobs. Since it was amended in the Senate, the bill now must go back to the House for consideration.