Before we get to what the Idaho Republican Party did at its just-ended convention, we need to review a couple of other things.
One is the cheerful wrap-up comment from Dorothy Moon, just re-elected to a third term as party chair. In her e-mail message, she said, “Debates within the Idaho GOP during the primary election and at the state convention have been intense, as they should be. Now, we stand united not only to keep Idaho red, but to keep Idaho a place where all life is valued.”
One party, united, period. Got it. And this is totally consistent with messages implicit and explicitly from the party in recent years..
The second point is enforcement of that unity. Shortly before the primary election, the party sent to the candidates running in its primary a document seeking their affirmation that they agree with all of the party’s platform. Some candidates disagreed with a point here or there, but many simply said that yes, they sign on with everything.
It’s more than paperwork. In recent years, party leaders have insisted that Republican officials, notably legislators, vote and speak in strict accordance with the party’s platform and resolutions – and have gone after those who veered from the party line. One good example is Representative Lori McCann of Lewiston, who was repeatedly censured by county Republican central committees for voting differently than the party dictated. Last month she lost a primary election in her district.
Unity and follow the party line. Do not stray from it. That’s the message from the Idaho Republican Party.
Now let’s consider one piece of this year’s party message, approved at the recent convention, a plank in the platform, advanced by the former and likely future state Senator Scott Herndon:
“We believe property tax is incompatible with true private property ownership. A tax that allows the government to place a lien on and ultimately seize a citizen’s home for nonpayment is fundamentally at odds with the right to own property. No Idahoan should face the loss of their home because they cannot keep up with a government assessment of what their property might sell for. We support the elimination of property taxes to protect the private property rights of all Idahoans.”
Simpler: End property taxation in Idaho. Period.
We’ll put aside the fact (which Herndon seems to ignore) of stiff legal consequences for non-payment of other forms of taxes (income and sales), which depending on the situation can be as severe as nonpayment of property taxes.
Herndon has said the state can make up for that loss of more than $2 billion in property tax revenue, which is not the only source but a key underpinning for local government in Idaho, including cities, counties, schools, roads and much more.
Around $400 million of that goes to public schools. Herndon said he would support moving all support for public schools to direct funding by the state, which in itself is not a terrible idea – but imagine the Idaho Legislature approving the additional taxes it would take to do that, and you’ll quickly see what a fantasy this is. And he said he isn’t calling for any increase in the sales or income tax.
That would be consistent with the rest of the platform. While the Republican platform specifically calls for eliminating the property tax, it nowhere suggests replacing the lost revenue with anything else. To the contrary: The platform advises, “We support lower federal, state, and local taxes.” Period.
But Herndon also suggested growth could make up for the loss in property taxes. History, local and national, makes clear what a delusion that is. You could’ve asked Reagan appointee David Stockman about the lessons he learned on that subject 40 years ago and gotten the same answer.
Democratic legislator Ilana Rubel suggested the property tax plank is “just intended to be kind of a crowd pleaser of, ‘Hey, don’t you hate property tax? Here, we want to end it,’ without any credible plan of how they would backfill that revenue.”
I wouldn’t be so sure. This is after all the Idaho Republican Party of strict ideological discipline. And the party line has been dictated. How many legislators next session will be willing to run afoul of it?
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