Latest news with #HouseBill93
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Idaho LWV sought state's help (and didn't get it) to raise awareness of Parental Choice Tax Credit
Members of the Idaho House of Representatives hold a floor session on March 10, 2025, at the Idaho Capitol Building in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) The co-president of the League of Women of Voters of Idaho said state agencies including Gov. Brad Little's office and the Idaho State Tax Commission have not accepted the league's invitation to work together on a public awareness campaign highlighting a new state education tax credit Little signed into law this year. Founded in 1920, the League of Women Voters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that seeks to increase voter participation and access, and inform the public about major policy issues. Co-President Jean Henscheid said members of the league tried working for weeks with the Idaho State Tax Commission and Little's office to create a public awareness campaign around the new Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit. The law has been effective for nearly six months. Henscheid said members of the league felt it was important to try to facilitate a discussion or public forum on how families can participate in the tax credit and how accountability will work. 'Over the course of the 80 years we have been active in Idaho we have provided dozens, if not hundreds, of opportunities for public education events including candidate forums, roundtable discussions, community events asking people what they think of particular polices and providing them with the kind of information they need to be informed voters,' Henscheid said. 'Even in its embryonic state, there is enough interest in this $50 million initiative that we felt it would be a service to the public to offer and to facilitate it, which is what the league has done for 80 years,' Henscheid said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Idaho State Tax Commission said the state does not yet have answers to many of the questions the League of Women Voters of Idaho gathered for a public awareness campaign. 'We're still working out the details of the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit program,' Idaho State Tax Commission public information officer Renee Eymann said Wednesday. 'This is a complex piece of legislation, and we want to have the correct information available.' The law creating the tax credit has already taken effect. House Bill 93 was written so that it took effect retroactively on Jan. 1, 2025. The new credit in House Bill 93 provides up to a $5,000 refundable tax credit for qualifying education expenses, including tuition at a private, religious school. Under the law, parents, guardians or foster parents can receive the credit for qualified expenses such as private school tuition and fees. Eymann said officials with the Idaho State Tax Commission are still: Reviewing the definitions as they relate to taxes Looking at the reporting requirements so the commission can roll them into the application process Determining the commission's administrative duties and how they'll align with the law's requirements Henscheid said the league was open to all sorts of ideas for a public forum or public awareness campaign – including a town hall event, a webinar, a literature campaign or a Q&A of some format. 'If they thought meeting on aisle 12 at Walmart and talking to people about it would help, we would have done it, Henscheid said. During his Jan. 6 State of the State address Little said: 'I recognize the growing desire to expand school choice, especially for students with unique physical or developmental conditions.' Little then recommended spending $50 million 'to further expand education options for Idaho families,' and he signed House Bill 93 into law on Feb. 27. CONTACT US For this article, Little's office referred questions about the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit and the League of Women Voters of Idaho's outreach efforts to the Idaho State Tax Commission. Parents will be able to apply for the new Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit on Jan. 15, 2026, Eymann said. Once the Idaho State Tax Commission has the details and requirements of the new law sorted out, officials will seek to share those details with the public, the commission said. 'As we finalize more information, we'll be sharing it with all groups that are willing to help us spread the word,' Eymann said. 'This will include issuing news releases, compiling frequently asked questions, providing steps on how to fill out the application for the credit, and explaining what 300% below poverty level means.' Financial Information How do tax credits work in general? Are there examples similar to the Parental Choice Tax Credit Program? Will the same system used for determining qualified expenses through the Empowering Parents grants be used for the Parental Choice Tax Credit Program? Who will be responsible for determining the eligibility of individual family expenses (e.g. qualified instructional materials or travel)? Will the Empowering Parents grants program process be combined with this process? Will levels of compliance and noncompliance be reported publicly (see also accountability Question #23 below) Can families who do not file taxes apply? Could you clarify the following: Parents seeking an advanced payment may also receive a tax credit in the same year. Is that correct? Does that mean one student could receive as much as $10,000 or $15,000 during the first year of eligibility? Is there a limit to the number of children per household who may be eligible for the tax credit? Will a student who registers for an enrichment program, after school activity, or music lesson through a public school, public charter school, public virtual charter school, public magnet school, or part-time public kindergarten while they are using the tax credit forfeit the entire credit for that term? How will this impact future applications? Who will be tasked with tracking ineligible enrollment and recovering the tax credit? Will a nonpublic school that disenrolls a student during an academic term in which a tax credit is being used retain the tax credit funds? If not, will the remaining funds be returned to the state or to parents? Who will be tasked with tracking this? Will a closing nonpublic school receiving tax credit funds retain those funds or return the remainder to the parents? Do closing nonpublic schools have any obligations to enrolled students using the tax credit funds? Application Process What information will be required on the application form? How was the 60-day application window determined? Is this like other programs? Will parents whose modified adjusted gross income does not exceed 300% of the federal poverty level have an early window during the 60 days to apply? If not, how will the preference process work? The law says parents who are reapplying will be given preference over parents who qualify under the federal poverty level criteria. This seems to shift the program's priorities from the first year. Is this correct? Will parents have someone to help them through the application process? Student Learning The law states that tax credits may be used to cover academic instruction in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social science. Who will be tasked with verifying (and reverifying) that these subjects are taught? Will it be a self-report by the school? Who will be tasked with defining a portfolio of evidence or learning record that indicates the student's growth? Will this be up to each school? Will portfolios and learning records be housed at the Tax Commission? If so, will they be secured? Does the student retain ownership of the intellectual property in these documents? Who will conduct the audit of these records to establish that the instruction meets the requirements listed in Question 14 above? What does 'sufficient' evidence for an audit mean? Accountability Could you tell us more about what is meant by an 'accredited' school? How will parents reapplying for the program certify that they have completed the mandatory satisfaction and engagement survey? What evidence will be required? Will someone be tasked with ensuring that students with disabilities are receiving services under 20 U.S.C. 1412 of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act? Will parents of students with disabilities have an advocate who will help students get the help they need? What remedy will be applied if the Tax Commission determines that services mandated by federal law are not provided by the nonpublic school to students with disabilities? The law states that its provisions shall not be construed to permit any government agency to exercise control or supervision over any nonpublic school student and nonpublic schools shall not be required to alter their creeds, practices, admissions policies, or curriculum in order to accept students using parental choice tax credits. Are remedies through the state available to parents if schools fail to comply with the disabilities education act or are identified through the satisfaction and engagement survey as failing in their duty to students? Do the Legislature, Governor's Office, or Tax Commission constitute government entities not permitted to control or supervise nonpublic school students or impact creeds, practices, admissions policies, or curriculum of nonpublic schools? If not, why is this the case? Which state employee or employees will be responsible for developing the mandatory satisfaction and engagement survey? Will results be available to participating parents, nonpublic schools, or other stakeholder groups outside the Tax Commission, the governor, and relevant legislative leadership and committees? Will results be made available to the public as state-generated documents? Will results be analyzed? If yes, by whom and for what purpose? Will results be used to improve the program, the nonpublic schools, or student learning? Will results of the annual program report to the governor and relevant legislative leadership and committees be made public and/or used to inform program improvement? SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Utah voucher law found unconstitutional. Idaho's law is also vulnerable.
A classroom at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in South Salt Lake is pictured on March 12, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) A district judge in Utah issued a marvelous decision on April 18, finding Utah's school voucher law to be unconstitutional. The 60-page decision was based on a variety of constitutional flaws that the Utah law shares with Idaho's recently-enacted education tax credit law. The Utah law was enacted in 2023 with $42.5 million in state funds. State funding increased by $40 million in each of the next two years. The Utah judge said the Utah Constitution gives 'a direct command to the legislature to perform a single duty: establish and maintain the state's education systems.'' The judge continued, 'This clear expression of one duty — coupled with the absence of any general duty to provide for the education or intellectual improvement of Utahns — impliedly restricts the legislature from creating a publicly funded school or education program outside of the public school system.' In other words, Utah's Legislature is restricted from using public funds to support any form of private education. Of interest is the fact that every member of the Idaho Legislature was sent a 'Legislative Alert' on the first day of the 2025 legislative session, warning that any scheme to use taxpayer money for private education would be violative of the Idaho Constitution in a number of respects. The alert was provided by The Committee to Protect and Preserve the Idaho Constitution, a group that participated in the successful lawsuit to overturn the restrictive initiative law enacted in 2021. The alert identified the same constitutional flaw focused upon by the Utah judge — that Idaho's Constitution prohibits the funding of private and parochial education. That has been the law of Idaho ever since statehood in 1890. The alert spelled out several other constitutional infirmities that any voucher scheme would entail, including a deliberate transgression of Idaho's strong prohibition against state support for religious education, discrimination against rural kids and Idaho religions that don't operate parochial schools, lack of accountability for taxpayer money expended on private schooling, and diminution of state money necessary to support Idaho's public school system, which has been chronically underfunded for decades. The Utah judge's decision mentioned a number of other infirmities in the Utah law — private schools often exclude students with special needs, or condition admission upon adherence to certain religious beliefs, or fail to provide 'free' schooling as constitutionally required for taxpayer-supported education. These flaws are also inherent in House Bill 93, the subsidy bill approved by the Legislature this year. The Idaho Legislature was clearly warned of the serious constitutional problems with House Bill 93, which will subsidize private and parochial education to the tune of $50 million in just the first year. Yet, because of massive funding from out-of-state groups that are seeking to weaken public schools across the nation, a majority of our legislators cast aside the Constitution and passed the subsidy bill. The governor lacked the courage to veto the legislation, despite overwhelming public outcry against it. Now, as with the similar travesty in Utah, concerned Idahoans will have to resort to the courts in order to protect the wishes of Idaho's constitutional drafters. Please stay tuned. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protecting public schools funding is an investment in Idaho's future
The Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit bill is a thinly veiled attempt to privatize education by diverting critical state funds away from public schools, writes guest columnist Sivani Kuruvada. (Getty Images) As a pediatric resident physician in Idaho, I am concerned about the recent signing of House Bill 93, the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit bill, by Gov. Brad Little. This bill, which allows taxpayers to redirect state funds to private school scholarships, is a step backward for Idaho's public education system and poses serious long-term risks to the future of our children. Idaho Gov. Brad Little signs law that directs state funds to private school tuition The Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit bill is a thinly veiled attempt to privatize education by diverting critical state funds away from public schools. It provides tax credits to individuals or corporations who contribute to private school scholarship organizations, ultimately funneling state resources into private institutions that are not held to the same standards of accountability, oversight, or inclusivity as our public schools. This not only diminishes funding for public schools but further entrenches educational inequality. As a pediatrician, I understand the importance of a strong and equitable public education system for the health and development of children. Public schools serve as the cornerstone of our communities, providing every child-regardless of background, income, or identity with a safe space to learn and grow. The resources and programs available in our public schools are crucial, not just for academic learning, but also for promoting physical, emotional and social well-being. Disinvesting in public education will disproportionately harm our most vulnerable students: those from low-income families, children with disabilities and students of color. The Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit bill also undermines the very principle of equitable access to education. By diverting state funding to private schools, we risk further expanding the gap between wealthy families who can afford private education and low-income families who rely on public schools. This is not just an issue of finances; it's an issue of fairness. Every child, no matter what their background is, deserves access to high-quality education. Idaho's children deserve the best opportunities for success. Rather than diverting resources away, our focus should be on strengthening public schools, and ensuring every child in these schools has the tools, support, and opportunities they need to thrive. As a physician and concerned citizen, I believe we should work to ensure public education remains strong and equitable for all Idaho students. I firmly stand against this change. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov Lujan Grisham signs electric grid, solar power and cannabis-enforcement bills into law
Gov. Lujan Grisham signed more than 40 more bills on April 8 ahead of an April 11 deadline. (Photo by Danielle Prokop/Source NM) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed 41 more bills into law Tuesday, including several to boost New Mexico's ability to install solar panels in small communities and allow utilities to seek rate changes for technology to improve electricity transmission. She has until April 11 to sign or veto legislation. House Bill 128 establishes a $20 million dollar fund to provide grants for solar energy and battery storage for tribal, rural and low-income schools, municipalities and counties. 'This fund is an investment in our infrastructure, our economy, and our future,' Sen. Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque) one of the bill's sponsors, said in a statement. 'It fills crucial funding gaps for rural and underserved areas, ensuring that all communities — no matter their zip code — can implement solar projects that cut energy costs, lower emissions, and enhance our resilience during fires, blackouts, and intense storms. I'm proud that we passed it.' House Bill 93 will allow larger electric utilities to incorporate advanced grid technology projects into their grid modernization plans, and incorporate those plans into the ratemaking process before the Public Regulation Commission. Co-sponsor Kristina Ortez (D-Taos) told Source the alternative: building more transmission lines can be '100 times to 1,000 times more expensive' than using technologies that boost lines capacity to carry more electricity, and state law allows electricity companies to pass on those costs to customers. 'Advanced grid technologies are way cheaper for ratepayers,' Ortez said. 'These utilities now have incentives to try to make their existing lines more efficient rather than building a whole new one.' HB93 is limited to investor-owned utilities, such as Public Service Company of New Mexico Xcel Energy and El Paso Electric, and does not impact smaller electric cooperatives, she noted. The governor also signed : House Bill 10, which establishes a new enforcement division under the state's Regulation and Licensing Bureau to enforce state cannabis laws; House Bill 63, which proposes changes to the public school funding formula to generate more money for low-income, English-language learning students and students in seventh through 12th grades; andSenate Bill 19, which requires that members of university governing boards undergo 10 hours of training on ethics, student services and best practices. Four of the bills she enacted related to water treatment for ongoing climate impacts, addressing so-called 'forever chemicals' contamination and pollution control. Here's a full list of the bills the governor signed: House Bill 56: Medicaid Reimbursements for Birth Centers House Bill: Prohibit Discrimination Against 340B Entities House Bill 117: Death Certificate by Physician Assistant House Bill 171: Pharmacy Custodial Care Facilities House Bill 178: Nursing Practice Changes Senate Bill 120: No Behavioral Health Cost Sharing Senate Bill 122: Expand Prescription Drug Donation Program Senate Bill 249: Health Care Provider Gross Receipts House Bill 93: Advanced Grid Technology Plans House Bill 128: NMFA Local Solar Access Fund House Bill 137: Strategic Water Supply Act House Bill 140: 'Hazardous Waste Constituent' Definition House Bill 212: Per- & Poly-Flouroalkyl Protection Act House Bill 240: Drinking Water System Grants & Loans House Bill 295: Tax On Property Owned by NM RETA Senate Bill 21: Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act House Bill 19: Trade Ports Development Act House Bill 368: High Wage Jobs Tax Credit 'Threshold Job' House Bill 456: Architect & Engineering Services & Construction House Bill 63: Public School Funding Formula Changes House Bill 69: Loan Forgiveness Multiplier Act House Bill 89: Graduate Scholarship Act Changes House Bill 336: Certain Retirees Returning to Work Senate Bill 19: Boards Of Regents Training Requirements Senate Bill 146: Educational Opportunity for Military Children House Bill 10: RLD Cannabis Enforcement House Bill 24: Community Governance Attorneys Changes House Bill 113: Animal Welfare Program and Trust Fund House Bill 158: Military Base Planning & Impact Act House Bill 296: Public Accountant Licensure Requirements House Bill 398: HMO & Contract Provider Exam Time Lines House Bill 468: Retiring of State Flags Senate Bill 88: Medicaid Trust Fund & State Supported Fund Senate Bill 92: Horse Racing & Jockey Insurance Fund Senate Bill 126: Increase Rural Service Fund Allocations Senate Bill 159: Independent Theater Beer & Wine Licenses Senate Bill 221: Additional Unfair Insurance Claims Practice Senate Bill 267: Housing Application Fees Senate Bill 280: NMMI In Capital Outlay Act Senate Bill 290: Raise Marriage License Fees Senate Bill 357: Essential Services Development Act
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dominated by a series of tax cuts, Idaho Legislature adjourns 2025 legislative session
The Idaho State Capitol building in Boise on May 5, 2021. (Otto Kitsinger for the Idaho Capital Sun) As expected, the Idaho Legislature wrapped up its business Friday and adjourned the 2025 legislative session after 89 days at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise. The 2025 session was dominated by a series of tax cuts that also reduce the amount of state revenue that is available to pay for the state budget. House Bill 40 lowers both the individual and corporate income tax from 5.695% to 5.3% and reduces state revenue by $253 million. House Bill 304 shifts money to a state property tax reduction fund and a fund to pay for school facilities. To pay for the shifts, the new law reduces state revenue by $100 million. House Bill 231 increases the grocery tax credit that is designed to offset the sales tax Idahoans pay for food to $155 per year for everyone. To pay for the increased grocery tax credit, House Bill 231 reduces state revenue by $50 million. Another new law, House Bill 93, provides a refundable tax credit for education expenses for families, including tuition and private, religious schools. To pay for the tax credits, House Bill 93 reduces state revenue by $50 million. House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, said the tax cuts were among the biggest, most enduring accomplishments of the year. 'We have over $400 million in tax relief this year,' Moyle said Friday afternoon. 'We touched income tax, we touched property tax, we touched sales tax and we did a good job of adjusting all of those in a downward trend, which is good for the state of Idaho,' Moyle said. Each of the laws reduces the taxes Idahoans pay, help pay down school bonds and levies that are paid for by property taxes or provides a tax credit. But to do so, those four laws reduce state revenue by a combined $453 million. Democratic legislative leaders had a different perspective on the tax cuts, saying that they worry the Idaho Legislature cut too much revenue and could stretch the state thin in the event of an economic downturn. House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, also said that to make room for tax cuts, Republican legislators walked away from grant programs and zeroed out a series of initiatives from Gov. Brad Little. Rubel said legislators walked away from $15 million from the affordable housing fund, $22 million for road and bridge repair, almost $25 million in home energy rebates that will now go to other states, cut a requested expansion of a rural physician loan repayment program, cut workforce training programs at Idaho colleges and more. 'These are debts that are going to be left for our children and grandchildren to pay with a shrunken pot of revenue to cover it,' Rubel said Friday. 'This is the textbook opposite of fiscal conservatism, folks.' In a statement issued late Friday afternoon, Little congratulated legislators on what he called 'a productive 2025 legislative session.' 'America wants what Idaho has – safe communities, bustling economic activity, increasing incomes, tax relief, fewer regulations, fiscal responsibility, and common sense values,' Little wrote. 'I thank my partners in the Idaho Legislature for working so hard for the people of Idaho. I am especially proud of the record tax relief, support for law enforcement, ongoing money for water infrastructure, additional support for rural school facilities and literacy, full funding for Launch, and the billions in additional capacity for roads. The list of successes is long, and there is still more we can and should do for Idahoans.' While there is no doubt the 2025 legislative session was contentious and divisive, legislators from both parties did come together at times. On March 5, the Idaho House voted unanimously to pass Senate Bill 1001, a new law designed to protect free speech and combat frivolous strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPP, lawsuits. Little signed the anti-SLAPP bill into law March 10. The Idaho House and Idaho Senate also voted unanimously to pass House Bill 158, a new media shield law that protects sources who provide confidential information or documents to journalists. Little signed the shield protections into law on March 27. The Idaho Legislature also passed House Bill 445, the 2026 Idaho Department of Water Resources budget that includes $30 million in funding for water infrastructure projects. Following a 2024 water curtailment order that sent shockwaves through Idaho's agricultural community, some legislators called House Bill 445 the most important bill of the 2025 session This year's legislative session was marked by a sharp increase in the volume of legislation that was prepared. According to data compiled by the nonpartisan Idaho Legislative Services Office, as of Friday staffers prepared 1,036 pieces of legislation this year – by far the most pieces of legislation in the past six years. For comparison, over the same time period in 2023, staffers had only prepared 861 pieces of legislation. Idaho legislators missed the Republican leadership team's original adjournment target date of March 21 because the 2026 budget was unfinished and because of ongoing disagreements between leaders of the Idaho House and Idaho Senate. Legislators nearly wrapped up their business for the year Thursday, when they passed key unfinished elements of the 2026 budget. But Senate leaders said they were short-staffed and the procedures required to wrap up the session would have kept them too late last night. Friday was the 89th day of the 2025 legislative session, which began Jan. 6. The 2024 legislative session adjourned sine die on April 10, after 94 days in session. 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