This past fall, the Idaho legislature created the 2019 Property Tax Working Group, “to study the current property tax structure…develop strategies to provide Idahoans with property tax relief…and answer the concerns over rising property taxes.” Today, the Idaho House Tax and Revenue Committee heard four bills, including one bill to freeze property taxes statewide. Senator Michelle Stennett’s newsletter provides excellent context for this legislative push, including how it could actually end up causing higher taxes at the local level. Likewise, Representative Sally Toone expressed her concerns in today’s Idaho Mountain Express over Governor Little’s proposal to reduce payments to counties that house state prison inmates in their jails because state prisons are full.
The legislature also took action that affects our right to vote this week. House Bill 322 would require all Idaho voters to affiliate with a political party 90 days before the Presidential Primary. Idaho’s upcoming Presidential Primary is March 10 . If the legislation passes later this week or early next, voters will have approximately two weeks to declare their affiliation with a political party. Stay tuned!
