Scott letter: Education Funds
The state of Idaho always struggles to find enough funding for the programs it so desperately needs, funds to support an education system that has fallen behind, a transportation system with a backlog of necessary repairs, 78,000 working poor who have no health care, the dire need of another mental health clinic, Kent Village for the homeless, just to mention a few. The Legislature always claims there are not enough funds to go around. Yet the Republican leadership seems to feel the state of Idaho has so much money that we should be giving it away to our richest taxpayers. House Bill 380 is a 1 percent tax cut for individuals in the top two tax brackets. Those not earning enough to be in the top tax brackets will get a $10 grocery credit, a giveaway of $27.8 million for fiscal year 2017 and every year after. Think what that money could do for the needs of our state. Is a $10 grocery credit that most of us will be receiving worth the loss of millions and millions of dollars to the state? Hopefully, the Idaho Senate will realize this is not good tax policy.
Kathy Scott, President, AAUW Idaho, Boise
This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Scott letter: Education Funds."