Idahoans strongly support public education funding and most don’t want GOP Gov. “Butch” Otter’s personal and corporate income tax cuts, a new poll by Idaho Politics Weekly shows.
In addition, citizens especially don’t want such cuts until schools have been fully funded and promised teacher pay raises implemented, the survey finds.
In his State of the State address to lawmakers, now meeting in their general session, Otter said he wants to cut the income tax rates, over five years, from a high of 7.4 percent to 6.9 percent.
Idaho needs these tax cuts to stay competitive in economic development, especially among surrounding states, said Otter.
Wyoming has no personal income tax and Utah’s tax rate is a flat-rate 5 percent, for example.
But Idahoans are not on board with Otter’s tax cut plan, found pollster Dan Jones & Associates in a survey conducted Jan. 21-29.
Jones polled 605 Idaho residents, the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.98 percent.
Otter’s plan is outlined in this Idaho Statesman story.
Sen. Jeff Siddoway, a Republican from Jefferson County and chairman of the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee, is quoted in the story as saying unless, and until, Idaho school funding is restored, the tax cut isn’t getting by him.
Siddoway said he’d kill the tax cut bill in his committee unless certain conditions are met.
"It could happen, but I'm pretty apprehensive about any tax reductions this year," Siddoway said. "I think there's such a hole in education funding that it will take everything we've got."
Jones found that only 30 percent of Idaho residents support Otter’s tax cut plan; 54 percent oppose and 16 percent didn’t know.
Republicans have huge majorities in the Idaho House and Senate. So the opinions of Idaho GOP rank-and-file matter.
And Otter has some hope there:
-- 49 percent of Idaho Republicans support the governor’s tax cut plan, 35 percent oppose and 16 said they didn’t know.
But outside of his own party, Otter has real trouble:
-- 80 percent of Democrats oppose the tax cut, only 12 percent support it and 8 percent didn’t know.
-- Among those who said they are political independents, 61 percent oppose the tax cuts, 22 percent support them and 15 percent didn’t know.
But even Idaho Republicans want public education funding restored before any tax cuts come, and they want teacher salaries increased, as promised.
Jones asked: “Do you support or oppose prohibiting new tax cuts until school funding increases and beginning teacher salaries are increased to $40,000?”
Among all Idahoans, 58 percent said no tax cuts until those base marks are met, 33 percent go ahead with tax cuts no matter what level of spending public education gets, and 9 percent didn’t know.
Fifty-two percent of Republicans said no tax cuts unless education funding is increased and teachers get $40,000 a year.
Seventy percent of Democrats agreed, as did 60 percent of political independents.
Thirty-nine percent of Republicans said go ahead with the tax cuts, as did 23 percent of Democrats and 32 percent of independents.
So, Otter has his political work cut out for him this spring as he tries to convince legislators that his tax cut plan – which will cost the state $100 million annually by the end of the five-year phase-in – is needed for economic development, and that with the growth in the economy comes higher tax revenue, which can restore public education’s lost revenues.