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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Ringo introduces Tax Commission reform bill, would make compromises public

Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, has introduced legislation to crack down on tax compromises, requiring them to be made public and not to be granted without review by at least three tax commissioners and the tax auditors involved in the cases. She said, "I'm thinking since we went through filing a lawsuit and all that, that it would be appropriate for me to put forward a bill that would correct the problems, in terms of structure and transparency." Ringo said she doesn't yet know if her bill, HB 37, will get a hearing. If it were to pass, she said, the lawsuit over secret tax deals wouldn't need to be re-filed; it's now on hold to give the Legislature a chance to act.

Ringo said legislation that Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, is working on to restructure Idaho's state Tax Commission to operate more like Montana's, with a professional director rather than four political appointees running the agency, also would satisfy the concerns behind the lawsuit. "We just thought it was inappropriate to hold the lawsuit over the legislators' heads when we thought they had an opportunity to do something," she said.
 



Eye On Boise

News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.