State Representative, Pos. B
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IRS goes after Idaho lawmaker
The IRS has filed nearly $300,000 in new federal tax liens against Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart in the past year, five years after Hart said he’d reached an agreement to repay $90,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest. The new liens, filed in Kootenai County, cover the tax years from 1997 through 2003, plus 2006 and 2008. Hart said, “I think it makes you a better legislator, to have these life experiences.”
House passes softer texting-while-driving bill
BOISE – Texting while driving would become an infraction in Idaho under legislation that was introduced in and passed by the state House in a single day Friday. The measure, HB 729, would replace tougher legislation that earlier passed the state Senate; it would have added texting while driving to Idaho’s inattentive driving statute, making it a misdemeanor.
Idaho House passes softer texting while driving bill
Texting while driving would become an infraction in Idaho under legislation that was introduced in and passed by the state House in a single day Friday.
Idaho Senate panel kills coinage
BOISE – Idaho is unlikely to begin minting its own silver currency any time soon. State Rep. Phil Hart’s proposal to create an official Idaho silver medallion that could be used to pay state taxes was killed Wednesday on a 7-2 vote in a Senate committee. The bill, HB 633, also would have granted big tax breaks to certain mining industry ventures.
Athol lawmaker offers flurry of bills
BOISE – At a time when Idaho legislators have been loath to propose tax increases, Athol Rep. Phil Hart has introduced legislation to bump Idaho’s sales tax to 8.25 percent, up from 6 percent. The tradeoff: He’d also like to eliminate the income tax on all earned income. “I think when you tax something, you get less of it,” said the third-term Republican. “We are heavily taxing jobs, and we have less jobs.”
Suit hinges on absentee vote, eh?
Monica Paquin, a former resident of Coeur d’Alene now living in the Montreal area, finds herself the focus of an effort to overthrow the 2009 Lake City elections. And all she did was return her absentee ballot with her vote for longtime friend Mike Kennedy. Challenger Jim Brannon, who has sued to overturn his five-vote loss to Kennedy, contends Monica didn’t have the right to vote in the election. After all, she’s been out of the country since Nov. 12, 2006. Erin Jenkins of Confidential Investigations contacted Monica Tuesday morning on behalf of Brannon to ask questions. Later, Monica told Huckleberries that she asked for an absentee ballot from Kootenai County in fall 2008 to vote in the presidential election. And requested she be sent absentee ballots for all elections afterward. She was told by Kootenai County officials that she could vote in her last place of residence in the United States as long as she didn’t vote elsewhere. Monica, who works for a Washington company, is classified as a “permanent resident” in Canada and has no idea when she will return to the states. She didn’t know Kennedy was running for council until she saw his name on her ballot. She told Huckleberries that she could understand an attempt to challenge a presidential result. But considers Brannon’s effort to overthrow a local election “ridiculous.” She’s right. Grub Club launches