Alternate School Tax Credit Flunks House Test Revenue Panel Says Concept Of Credit For Home-School And Private School Students Is Fine, But Cited Too Many Unknowns About The Cost Of Current Bill
One of the most controversial proposals to surface this session in the Idaho Legislature - giving $1,500 tax credits to people who don’t put their children in public schools - went down to defeat in a House committee on Friday.
It represented a rare loss this session for conservative religious organizations, which already have pressured lawmakers into full-scale debate on abortion issues.
Concerned about the unknown cost of the proposal, the House Revenue and Taxation Committee refused to print legislation sponsored by Republican Reps. Mark Stubbs of Twin Falls and Lenore Barrett of Challis.
The measure would have given parents a state income tax credit up to $1,500 for each child home-schooled or in parochial or private schools.
Although there are an estimated 12,000 nonpublic students in Idaho, the tax credit would have applied to a far smaller number.
After the meeting, Stubbs said he would try again later with a bill calling for a credit of $500 per child and limiting families to no more than $1,500 per family per year. It also would have a clearer statement on the cost, he said.
The Stubbs-Barrett bill would have been limited to children entering the first grade next year and the tax credit could be no more than the parents’ total state income tax bill. A tax official said that averaged $1,300 per family in 1996.
It appeared the proposal was rejected because its financial impact statement claimed it would cost the state nothing, or actually would generate more money to support public schools.
The measure said the state pays an average of $4,065 per student in public schools. Since only $1,500 would be paid in a tax credit, that meant $2,565 more per student would be available, Stubbs and Barrett argued.
Rep. Jim Kempton, R-Albion, called that a flawed concept. He and others on the committee said removing one child per class or a few per school would do nothing to lower the school’s operating cost.
“If you pull one kid out of a classroom, you don’t save $4,065,” he said.
“The concept is not the problem, the problem is the dollars,” Rep. Golden Linford said. “We need a clearer analysis on what the fiscal impact will be.”
Rep. Celia Gould, R-Buhl, said teachers in her area were worried about the “yo-yo” problem of parents enrolling their children in public schools but removing them later for private or home-schooling.
Stubbs said the legislation prevents any student who used the public schools during a school year from being eligible for the credit.
Similar legislation last session was amended on the House floor to a credit of $500 per child, but was sent back to the Revenue and Taxation panel and died there.
xxxx ON THE RECORD Highlights from the past week in the Idaho Legislature
They said it “It’s the same thing as if the Alliance of Caged Humans for the Rockies brought a lawsuit against the state. The governor is not going to appoint those people to the parole board,” Rep. John Campbell, R-Sandpoint, said in a debate about his bill to stop groups that want to sue the state from gaining appointments to advisory boards.
Votes Here are some of North Idaho lawmakers’ votes in the past week: Pay raises: The Senate endorsed 33-2 Gov. Phil Batt’s plan to disburse more than $20 million in state employee pay raises based on the evaluations of their supervisors. Sens. Clyde Boatright, R-Rathdrum; Gordon Crow, R-Hayden; Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint; Marguerite McLaughlin, D-Orofino; and Jack Riggs, R-Coeur d’ Alene, voted yes. Circuit breaker: The House Revenue and Taxation Committee agreed to debate Rep. Jim Stoicheff’s bill that would provide property tax relief to disabled military veterans. Committee members voting yes were Reps. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake; Charles Cuddy, D-Orofino, and Larry Watson, D-Wallace. Rep. Hilde Kellogg, R-Post Falls, voted no. Pastoral licensing: The House voted 51-19 to repeal a 1997 law that provides licenses and regulation of pastoral counselors. Voting yes were Reps. Campbell; Clark; Cuddy; Kellogg; Wayne Meyer, R-Rathdrum; and Don Pischner, R-Coeur d’ Alene. Voting no were Reps. Jeff Alltus, R-Hayden; June Judd, D-St. Maries; Stoicheff and Watson.