Adivsory question on Idaho's ballot. It's a doozy.

[yonder]

Get a load of this, highlights mine:

"Do you approve or disapprove of the State of Idaho using the record budget surplus to refund $500 million back to hardworking Idaho taxpayers, cut ongoing income taxes by more than $150 million, and put more money in our classrooms by increasing education and student funding by a record $410 million? Your approval of this effort would combat historic inflation by returning money to taxpayers, creating a simple flat tax, and making the single largest investment in public education in Idaho history."

I voted early last week and discovered this awful leading language in this non-binding question seeking voter approval for a bill (HB 1) passed and signed into law during a special session of Idaho's legislature. It's specific appropriations will be decided in the upcoming 2023 session. They added a public education funding plum in order to further a wish list of conservative wet dreams.

It's interesting, but not surprising that they convened that special session in order to head off an initiative that would've raised taxes on businesses and upper income taxpayers. The initiative's sponsors agreed to drop their proposal in exchange for this bills public education's funding increases despite the bigger monster it creates. Idaho's legislature is constitutionally required to equally fund all districts in it's last-in-most-metrics public education system. They've somehow gotten around this in the recent past by forcing individual districts to fund shortfalls by local bonds and taxes. How convenient to let themselves off their taxing responsibility hook by forcing hodepodge local funding.

Yes, HB 1 helps public education in at least the short term, but it creates something else entirely in doing so. The language in this advisory question is amazingly amateurish, but undoubtedly effective and it is clear to me what the intent is.

https://ballotpedia.org/Idaho_2022_ballot_measures

[PSPS]

1. My state doesn't allow editorializing in ballot titles.

This is just lipstick on the same old flat tax pig. Flat tax just means tax cut for the rich.

[yonder]

4. Wishing my state didn't as well, but it's Idaho.

The bill has been passed, they're just trying to assuage/gauge voter sentiments after the fact.

Lipstick on a pig is right.

[Deminpenn]

2. We have a flat tax in PA

Basically no deductions although retirement income and PA based muni bonds and US Treasuries are exempt.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Same In Illinois

Tax rate is the same for all, but no retirement income is taxed.
Social security, IRA, 401k conversions, annuity payouts if funding came from retirement savings, etc.
The only state income tax we pay is on the 7 or 8 grand I make substitute teaching.
I give nearly all the net pay to a couple food pantries, but I keep 10 bucks or so. That keeps my net tax bill at effectively zero. Mostly it's just gas money for getting to the schools.