Grocery tax reduction
Many legislators are interested in lowering or doing away with Idaho’s sales tax on food items. The subject seems to come up every year at the Statehouse, but lawmakers are perhaps more enthusiastic than ever about doing something about a tax that hits low-income families and the elderly hard. Part of the interest could come from the fact that the Legislature raised the overall sales tax by one percent last year.

An option proposed by former Gov. and current Lt. Gov. Jim Risch would be to phase out the grocery tax over time, dropping it one percent, or one penny per dollar, at a time.

A more popular idea is to raise the income tax credit for groceries.

“One way or another, you’re going to see some sort of reduction,” Caldwell Sen. John McGee said.

Emmett Sen. Brad Little said another option could be simply reducing taxes on groceries to three percent down from six percent. He said eliminating the tax entirely would be too much of a strain on state budgets.

“We can’t have it be zero, (although) they’ll probably be some people who propose that,” Little said.

Widening Interstate 84 from Caldwell to Meridian
Recent GARVEE bond legislation set the stage for this project. But the GARVEE (or Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle) idea has hit some snags because of increased road building costs. Canyon County legislators are determined to keep work to improve Interstate 84 a priority and make the commute from Canyon County to Boise faster. Having McGee as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee could help speed up the process of getting the road widened.

The project may take making sure other highway projects get done too.

“I’ve joked that if you want to widen the road between Meridian and Caldwell, you have to build a road to Lava Hot Springs,” Nampa Sen. Curt McKenzie said.

Overdue highway maintenance and less gas tax from more gas-efficient vehicles could present problems for the project.

Budget surplus
Little said how the Legislature spends the budget surplus will be a big issue this session. The surplus is estimated at $180 million. But that number may decrease as more updated figures come in.

“Maybe a third of it we put away, maybe a third of it we give back, which would be the grocery tax credit, (and) invest the rest of it for a better future,” Little said.

McGee said Gov. Butch Otter, who will set the tone for budget decisions, has made it clear he is a fiscal conservative.

“I think we’re going to see a lean budget,” McGee said.