February 2, 2012 in Idaho

N. Idaho senator pushes 2/3 approval for tax hikes

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Betsy Russell photo

Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, pitches his proposed constitutional amendment Thursday to require a two-thirds vote of each house of the Legislature for any tax or fee increase; the measure was introduced, but some lawmakers expressed misgivings about it.
(Full-size photo)

BOISE - North Idaho Sen. Steve Vick wants Idaho to enact a constitutional amendment to require two-thirds votes in both the House and Senate to pass any tax or fee increase.

Vick noted that 16 states have such requirements; all were enacted by voters through initiatives or referenda. “I think that any time you raise taxes you take a little bit of people’s freedom,” Vick said. “I just think it should be a little harder to do.”

Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, told the House State Affairs Committee this morning, “What you need to know is that these kinds of things are very popular with the voters.”

Committee members had lots of questions about Vick’s proposal, however. “Idaho is different,” said Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake. “We aren’t out there raising taxes as much as some of these states.” Other committee members asked whether the provision would apply to administrative rules that impose fee increases; those are much more common in Idaho than tax hikes. Vick said it would, though he said he’d seek clarification about the wording of his measure, which would add this sentence to the Idaho Constitution: “No bill that provides for a net increase in revenue, whether through fees or txes, shall become law without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each house.”

Rep. Erik Simpson, R-Idaho Falls, said, “This is a provocative piece of legislation, so I’m going to recommend that we introduce it,” and the committee agreed; that clears the way for a full hearing on the measure.

Amending Idaho’s constitution requires a two-thirds vote from each house of the Legislature followed by a majority vote of the people at the next general election.

Four comments on this story so far. Add yours!

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  oneanddone on February 02 at 10:58 a.m.

  This is nuts but many people won’t look under the wrapping. All this will do is essentially constitutionalize the myriad of tax breaks for businesses in idaho because the end of any would “raise revenue.” I think a better way to control spending in Boise is to go to a flat tax for everyone. No tax breaks for anyone, especially business. If any of those elected idiots want to change the constitution, then add term limits.

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  RedCedar on February 02 at 11:17 a.m.

  Let them put it to a vote. Then everybody can argue about whether or not it’s a good idea. The way I see it, the more initiatives and referenda on the ballot, the better. That’s how democracy works.

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  The_Seer on February 02 at 12:49 p.m.

  “I think anytime you pass legislation requiring super majorities to pass you take away freedoms and distort underlying principles upon which democracies were founded.”

  redcedar: Initiatives and referenda are not “democracy,” they are mobocracy. Huuuuuuuuuuuuuge difference. We are a republic that elects representatives to carry out our political motive.

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  RedCedar on February 02 at 2:33 p.m.

  Your point is true, although your terminology is inaccurate. True democracy involves giving everyone a vote on everything, which is exactly what referenda and initiatives attempt to do. Probably the closest approach to a true democracy in the world today is Switzerland, and you can see what a lawless mob the Swiss are. If we accepted your position, that initiatives and referenda are “mobocracy”, which is presumably a bad thing, then what we really need is a constitutional amendment to eliminate them.

  I don’t know your politics, so I’m not sure if there have ever been any initiatives or referenda that you liked, but what I’ve noticed over the years is that when someone doesn’t agree with the majority opinion on an issue, they complain about the process, but when they support the issue, they are glad to have the process.