Gov. Otter’s proposal to reduce taxes — and the early stand-off forming in the Senate — is all too familiar.
In 2012, then-Sen. Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home, oversaw the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee when Otter proposed a $35 million tax cut for corporate and top income taxes. Corder and other Senate Republicans opposed it from the beginning, with Corder saying he’d rather the money go back into the state’s depleted rainy day funds.
Three years ago, Siddoway was initially opposed to the tax cut, but ultimately voted in favor of it on the last day of the session (though I remember him looking pained during the committee vote). Corder voted against it in the committee and on the floor, though he changed his vote to “yes” at the last minute.
Reducing those same tax rates even further is back on Otter’s agenda, with this year’s proposal costing an estimated $17.8 million. Siddoway now heads the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committe, and told Betsy Russell of the Spokesman-Review he wants to see increased teacher pay before considering tax cuts.
Will that hard line last throughout the session? We’ll see.
