Another no big surprise. From Idaho Politics Weekly:
Most Idahoans favor a cut in personal and corporate income tax rates, as proposed by state House Republicans, a new Idaho Politics Weekly poll shows.
But whether the bill, sponsored by House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, even gets a Senate hearing is still up in the air.
Last week the bill passed the Idaho House on a straight party-line vote: Republicans for it, Democrats against it.
IPW pollster Dan Jones & Associates finds that 55 percent of Idahoans support the speaker’s bill – they want a tax cut — 32 percent oppose it, and 14 percent don’t know.
Moyle proposes that the state’s top tax bracket, now at 7.4 percent, be reduced to 7.2 percent. And he wants the first $750 of a person’s income to be tax exempt.
The state currently has a progressive tax rate, from 1.6 percent to 7.4 percent. But the top rate kicks in at an adjusted gross income of only $10,905 – so by far, most Idahoans pay the highest rate.
Democrats oppose the tax cut, saying it could harm public education funding – which lawmakers have been increasing in recent years.
Reflecting the partisan vote in the House, Jones finds Idahoan Republicans favor the tax cut over Democrats:
- Republicans support the tax cut, 70-16 percent.
- Democrats are against it, 58-33 percent.
- By a bare majority, political independents (who don’t belong to any party) favor it, 51-39 percent.
- And those who told Jones they belong to a third party are split, 48 favor, 29 percent oppose, and a large 22 percent don’t know.
Jones polled 628 adults from Feb. 16-28. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.91 percent.