See how easy it is for Idaho to increase public education funding? Thanks, Reclaim Idaho

If the only way we can get the Idaho Legislature to properly fund public education is through a special session forced by a citizens initiative, then so be it.

If it comes with a healthy tax rebate check that benefits Idahoans who need it most, even better.

By calling a special session to give $500 million in tax rebates, $162 million in income tax cuts and pump $410 million into public education, Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Idaho legislators are clearly trying to influence voters ahead of the November election.

But who cares? It’s a pretty good deal.

Reclaim Idaho is seeking $323 million with its Quality Education Act citizens initiative that’s on the November ballot. The governor’s proposal released Tuesday ended up providing a little more — $410 million — without raising any taxes.

Democrats were able to negotiate an increase in the minimum rebate amount that Idahoans would receive.

When the Legislature approved tax rebates last year, the minimum rebate amount was $75 per person; this time around, it’s $300 per person, or $600 per household, not an insignificant amount.

Plus, the proposal drops Idaho’s top income tax rate another little notch, down from 6% to 5.8% and makes it flat.

Idaho’s income tax is already just about as flat as you can get. At this point, it’s silly to have different tax brackets. We would rather see a more progressive graduated income tax structure, but changing Idaho’s structure to a flat 5.8% isn’t a monumental shift in Idaho tax policy. By eliminating the first $2,500 of income from taxation for individuals and $5,000 for joint filers, the proposal doesn’t raise taxes on anyone.

The proposal, which will be before legislators Thursday, Sept. 1, has something to keep just about everyone happy. We’re told the bill has 60 cosponsors, from both sides of the aisle. The Idaho Education Association and the Idaho School Boards Association are applauding. Republicans never met a tax cut they didn’t like.

Plus, it accounts for only $1 billion of the $2 billion budget surplus, so there’s still room to tackle other issues, such as repealing the tax on groceries and coming up with real property tax relief.

We recognize that special sessions should be just that — special — and this is an issue that could wait until the regular session.

Special sessions tend to limit the public input process because they’re so short.

House Speaker Scott Bedke told Clark Corbin of the Idaho Capital Sun that he expects the session to last one day, which limits the time for the public to respond to proposals or any amendments that might be brought up.

And committee chairs have a gift for cherry-picking the people who testify. It’s a very different animal than the regular session.

However, if this is the only way legislators can get this done, we’re in favor of it.

Because here’s the other big political risk: If this special session doesn’t happen, and the Quality Education Act fails in November, legislators will not be as eager to increase public education funding once they’re back in regular session.

Yes, Idaho legislators should do this during a regular session, but time and again, they haven’t.

If the only way Republican legislators can boost education funding is by having it come with a tax rebate that benefits everyone, and arguably disproportionately benefits lower-income families, we’re in favor of it.

We can all thank Reclaim Idaho for making this happen.

Even though Gov. Little said the citizens initiative had no role in this, the timing is inescapable.

The governor and legislators essentially had their hand forced because the initiative is on the ballot. Passage would have meant raising corporate taxes and personal income taxes on the highest earners. It seems no coincidence that the governor’s proposal, if passed, would take effect on Jan. 3, two days after the Quality Education Act would take effect if passed. At the very least, if both pass, the legislation would nullify the income tax hike.

Further, if the legislation passes, the chances of voters getting on board with tax hikes to fund something the Legislature has already funded go way down.

It’s too bad that it took so much work to gather signatures, have them certified and get the measure on the ballot over 18 long months, only to have the governor hold a simple press conference to make it happen.

It just goes to show how easy it should have been all along.

This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 5:57 PM with the headline "See how easy it is for Idaho to increase public education funding? Thanks, Reclaim Idaho."