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Phil Hart
| Phil Hart | ||
 | ||
| Idaho House of Representatives District 3B | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| In office | ||
| 2004-Present | ||
| Term ends | ||
| December 1, 2012 | ||
| Years in position | 9 | |
| Party | Republican | |
| Compensation | ||
| Base salary | $16,116/year | |
| Per diem | $122/day outside Boise, $49/day otherwise | |
| Elections and appointments | ||
| Last election | November 2, 2010 | |
| First elected | 2004 | |
| Next election | November 6, 2012 | |
| Term limits | N/A | |
| Education | ||
| Bachelor's | University of Utah, 1980 | |
| Master's | University of Pennsylvania, 1984 | |
| Personal | ||
| Profession | Owner/Operator, Alpine Engineering | |
| Religion | Protestant | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
| Campaign website | ||
 | ||
Contents |
Hart earned his Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Utah and his Master's degree in Business Administration at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Hart is the owner of an engineering company, and is a licensed civil and structural engineer in 11 states.
He is the author of Constitutional Income: Do You Have Any? (2001), and was a Delegate at the 2008 Republican National Convention, for Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.
Committee assignments
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Hart has been appointed to these committees:
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Hart served on these committees:
Issues
Presidential preference
2012
Phil Hart endorsed Ron Paul in the 2012 presidential election. [1]
Controversies
Investigation
Idaho Speaker of the House Lawerence Denney (R-Midvale) removed Hart from the Revenue and Taxation Committee on November 9, 2010. Denney said Hart sent a letter requesting removal from the panel. Rep. John Rusche (D-Lewiston) urged an investigation into Hart for his dealings with the Idaho State Tax Commission and the IRS.[2]
In December 2010, the Ethics panel decided to investigate Hart after a vote of 6-1. According to news accounts, Hart owes more than $53,000 in taxes to Idaho and $500,000 to the federal government. Hart has challenged the constitutionality of personal and business income taxes in court and has written a book on the subject.[3]
Supreme Court rules on unpaid taxes
In April 2012, the Idaho Supreme Court upheld previous rulings on Representative Phil Hart and his failure to pay income taxes. The owed taxes stretch back to 1996, when Hart stopped filing federal and state income tax returns in protest over their perceived unconstitutionality. He resumed payments, but according to the IRS is hundreds of thousands of dollars behind schedule. In addition, the Idaho Tax Commission found that Hart owed them $53,523 in back taxes as of 2009, which continue to accrue interest. [4]
The issue decided by the court was not the legality of collecting taxes in general, but whether Hart waited too long to file his initial appeal and if his most recent hearing should have been delayed, since he was participating in lawmaking in the Idaho House of Representatives. On the first point, two government bodies had already deemed that the six months Hart waited is much longer than the 91 day appeal period, and that his work as a legislator would not sway that point. As to the second point, an exception was provided by First Judicial District Judge John Mitchell. Mitchell found that since that hearing just relied on legal arguments of the attorneys, Hart was not required to be there. He was however, able to call in by phone, which he refused to do. [4]
On November 5, Hart appeared before U.S. District of Idaho Judge Edward Lodge for a federal tax trial. The IRS claims that Representative Hart owes the United States $550,000 in back taxes. [5]
District 3-B
Hart represents House Seat B in Idaho House District 3. District 3 includes the northern half of Kootenai County[6].
Elections
2012
Due to redistricting, Hart will run for re-election in District 2B. He is opposed in the Republican primary on May 15 by Ed Morse, Ronald Ross Vieselmeyer, and Fritz Wiedenhoff.[7] Dan English is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. The election will take place November 6, 2012.
2010
Hart won re-election to District Seat 3B in 2010. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary on May 25th. Hart defeated write-in candidate Howard L. Griffiths in the general election took place on November 2, 2010.[8]
| Idaho House of Representatives, District 3B (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
 Phil Hart (R)
|
9,170 | 80.1% | ||
| Howard L. Griffiths (Write-In) | 2,285 | 19.9% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Republican Phil Hart won re-election to the Idaho House of Representatives District 3B receiving 16,762 votes. He ran unopposed.[9]
| Idaho House of Representatives, District 3B (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Phil Hart (R)
|
16,762 | |||
Campaign donors
2010
In 2010, a year in which Hart was up for re-election, he collected $15,435 in donations.[10]
His largest contributors in 2010 were:
| Idaho House of Representatives 2010 election - Campaign Contributions | |
|---|---|
| Top contributors to Phil Hart's campaign in 2010 | |
| Finman, Lorna C | $1,900 |
| Finman, Paul F | $1,400 |
| Winning For Idaho | $1,000 |
| North Idahoans For Liberty | $999 |
| Idaho Association For Good Government | $800 |
| Total Raised in 2010 | $15,435 |
2008
In 2008, Hart raised $23,545.
Listed below are those who contributed the most to his campaign. [11]
| Donor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Phil Hart | $4,161 |
| House Republican Victory Fund of Idaho | $1,000 |
| Coeur D. Alene Tribe | $1,000 |
| Idaho Trucking Association | $1,000 |
| Donald Ekhoff | $1,000 |
| Ralph Cowden | $1,000 |
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term Phil + Hart + Idaho + Legislature
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
Phil Hart News Feed
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
Personal
Phil is married to Sarah Hart. They have one child and reside in Athol, Idaho.
External links
- Phil Hart's campaign website
- Idaho House of Representatives - Phil Hart
- Project Vote Smart legislative profile
- Project Vote Smart biography
- Campaign contributions: 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002
- Phil Hart on Facebook
- Phil Hart on Twitter
References
- ↑ CDA Press "Hart stumps for Ron Paul," October 28, 2011
- ↑ "Denney removes Hart from House taxation committee," Idaho Reporter, November 9th, 2010
- ↑ "Ethics panel votes 6-1 to continue investigation into Hart matter," Idaho Reporter, December 13th, 2010
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Spokesman-Review, "Hart appeals to Supreme Court," June 8, 2011
- ↑ Idaho Statesman, "Idaho Supreme Court says Rep. Phil Hart must pay delinquent state income taxes," April 26, 2012
- ↑ "Idaho Legislature" 2009 Legislative Directory, July 22, 2009(See page 2)
- ↑ Office of the Idaho Secretary of State "List of All Candidate Declarations for 2012," Accessed March 26, 2012
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State - 2010 General election results
- ↑ Idaho House of Representatives official election results for 2008
- ↑ 2010 campaign contributions
- ↑ 2008 contributors to Phil Hart
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- 2012 endorsement of Ron Paul for President
- Current member, Idaho House of Representatives
- 2010 unopposed
- State representatives first elected in 2004
- Republican Party
- Idaho
- 2010 candidate
- House of Representatives candidate, 2010
- 2010 incumbent
- 2010 winner
- 2012 challenger
- House of Representatives candidate, 2012
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