New version of jobs tax credit introduced

Gov. Butch Otter has proposed a new jobs tax credit bill he’s calling the “Hire One Act,” echoing his call in his State of the State message this year for all Idaho employers to hire one person to try to boost the economy. Otter aide Mark Warbis told the House Revenue & Taxation Committee this morning that the bill is aimed at “encouraging employers to have confidence in our state economy.” It calls for a refundable income tax credit for new hires, which the amount varying from 2 to 6 percent of the new worker’s gross wages based on employers’ unemployment insurance rating; in counties with 10 percent or higher unemployment, jobs paying at least $12 an hour would qualify; in counties with less than 10 percent unemployment, jobs paying at least $15 a hour would qualify.

Earlier, the House voted 61-3 in favor of HB 126, a proposal from the Idaho Chamber Alliance for a new-jobs tax credit for jobs paying $12 an hour or more with benefits, but that bill died in a Senate committee. Warbis told the House panel, “We’re bringing this back after having addressed the concerns of the Senate committee.” The new bill, which the House committee introduced today on a unanimous vote, has an estimated cost of $7.9 million a year from the state general fund, but also estimates it would generate $25.3 million in new tax revenue. The previous bill, HB 126, listed its fiscal impact as “unknown.”