Written by: Jim Hansen
Saturday, September 29, 2007

There is a special interim committee of legislators that met in August and heard persuasive testimony from economists on the weakness of building an economy on tax breaks rather than on investment in critical infrastructure like schools. I blogged about this earlier and bring it up now because they will meet again on Monday through Wednesday (Oct. 1-3). I haven't seen any publicity for the meeting, which is probably just fine for those who reap the benefit of those tax breaks.

It was fascinating to watch in August because lobbyists for Idaho's big corporations kept a close eye on legislators and made sure the committee did not seriously consider sunsetting any of their tax expenditures. In fact, what may actually come out of the committee as a recommendation is to expand exemptions.

The committee will meet (probably the last time before the 2008 regular session) in the east conference room of the Joe R. Williams building (a.k.a the "hall of mirrors, across the street from the Statehouse.) Unfortunately, Republicans on the committee appear to have caved into pressure from lobbyists for big corporations. The agenda on the legislature's website is so vague that most people probably won't see much reason to attend. The committee won't likely seriously deal with the reason the committee was created in the first place: to address the chronic problem of expanding tax breaks that never sunset and how they contribute to the state's structural deficit.

The list of the committee members are on one page of the legislature's website, the addresses and phone numbers of House Members are on another page and the addresses and phone numbers of Senators are on yet another. It is worth it to call three or four of them and tell them what you think about protecting tax breaks without ever sunsetting or evaluating them.

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