State of the State, continued
B
ut whether it’s that bill or an alternative, we need a long-term plan for reducing the tax burden on our citizens.
That will go a long way toward providing a competitive advantage for Idahoans, stimulating economic growth and expanding our tax base.
Of course there are budget implications attached to such decisions. And they must be weighed carefully.
But there also are implications for our ability to provide economic opportunities for our children and grandchildren if we continue to be limited by what we could lose rather than inspired by what we can gain.
Folks, our citizens deserve and good government demands accountability in our tax system. It’s an essential element of fostering public confidence.
And it applies just as much to the people and processes involved in collecting taxes as it does to the rates and the rationales behind them.
I have shared some ideas on possible ways to improve operations and public trust at our State Tax Commission with Pro Tem Hill, Senator Stegner and Representative Lake.
While those talks progress, I look forward to working closely with all of you in finding solutions that helps restore public confidence in that institution and the essential work it does through greater accountability and efficiency.
Our tax structure also plays a key role in achieving our economic development and growth goals.
That’s why I will be proposing legislation aimed at providing an incentive for investment and creation of career opportunities, targeting those small and start-up businesses that show great promise for Idaho’s future – especially as new technology and innovation are applied.
I’ll be interested to hear your ideas and alternatives. Ladies and gentlemen, once again this is not the government’s money.
It’s the people’s money. And I encourage you to leave as much of it as possible in the hands that earned it. I haven’t heard one Idahoan say they want their taxes raised. If anyone wants to contribute more to State government, they’re free to do so. But this is not the time for us to coerce those payments with more taxes.
Along with ensuring that our tax and regulatory climate encourages investment and job creation, the key to economic growth is to keep pressing ahead with our Project 60 initiative.
Because it’s working. We are coordinating with industry sectors here at home. We’re exploring opportunities and making great progress within the growing renewable and alternative energy industry. We’re facilitating foreign investments. And we’re recruiting businesses seeking the stability that other states lack. States like Oregon, where the new Governor recently said the state is in a fiscal “death spiral;” or Washington, where the Governor is proposing literally billions of dollars in cuts to public schools, higher education and public safety services.
That’s not us. And it won’t be us as long as we stick to our principles.
So today I’m submitting a Fiscal 2012 Executive Budget recommendation based on a modest but responsible 3-percent growth rate in our State revenue.
While that won’t seem to be aggressive enough to some or conservative enough to others, it reflects the realities of our budget needs and limitations at this moment in time.
Among those limitations is the hard fact that we will be starting Fiscal 2012 without about $190 million of one-time funding from reserve accounts and federal funds that are helping to prop up this year’s budget. Our anticipated revenue growth in Fiscal 2012 wouldn’t even cover that kind of hit. So most State agencies will see their budgets reduced by more than 2 percent under my recommendation.
And since we still are going to be counting on almost $78 million in one-time money that we’ve identified throughout State government to balance our books in Fiscal 2012, now is the time to come forward with your ideas for eliminating whole programs that may fall outside the statutory or constitutional responsibilities of State government.
Now, we all know that one of State government’s most important responsibilities is maintaining a “general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.”
It was an unfortunate necessity that prompted us to reduce the current year’s General Fund public schools appropriation after two years of backfilling with reserve funds and one-time federal money.
So while my budget recommendation does call for a little more State support for public schools, it also includes significant, targeted investments in our children’s future – investments like a third year of math and science in high school, and paying for all Idaho juniors to take college entrance exams.
Those investments are part of important changes that Superintendent Luna and I are proposing in the way our public schools do their jobs.
We’re proposing to improve Idaho’s education system by advancing the recommendations of our partners in this effort, led by Guy Hurlbutt and the Education Alliance of Idaho.
It will mean a fundamental shift in emphasis from the adults who oversee the process and administration to the best interests of our students.
Our priorities need to be refocused from how much we’re spending to how much our children are learning.
Now, it’s important for you to know that we’re starting from a position of strength.
Idaho students continue to out-perform national averages on math and reading.
That’s despite the fact that we spend far less per student than the national average, and less than half as much as New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
Yet our Idaho students generally score higher on achievement tests.
Again, we need to refocus from how much we are spending to how much our children are learning – learning in large measure due to responsible parenting and the excellence and sustained efforts of our fine public school teachers.
That excellence should be rewarded – which is why Superintendent Luna and I are committed to establishing a pay system for teachers that emphasizes their performance, not their tenure.
Truly one of the bright spots of the past couple of years for me has been watching the impact of the Idaho Education Network’s expansion into every corner of our state.
I’ve watched and listened to classes delivered over broadband Internet connections.
I’ve talked with the teachers and the high school students who already have earned 1,300 college credits by using the IEN.
I’ve seen how a calculus teacher in Eagle can reach students in Sandpoint and Sugar City.
I’ve seen how our Idaho students can use the IEN to take interactive guided tours of world-class resources like the Great Barrier Reef, the Holocaust Museum, the Alaska Sea Life Center and NASA facilities.
Published 1-14-2011