Idaho Income Tax Increases for Education Funding Initiative (2020)

Idaho Tax Increases for Education Funding Initiative
Election date November 3, 2020
Topic Taxes and Education
Status Not on the ballot
Type State statute	Origin Citizens
List of Idaho measuresIdaho Constitutional Amendment HJR 4Submit

The Idaho Tax Increases for Education Funding Initiative was not on the ballot in Idaho as an initiated state statute on November 3, 2020.

The measure would have increased the income tax rate for individuals with incomes above $250,000; increased the corporate income tax rate; and created and funded the Quality Education Fund.

Text of measure

Short ballot title

The short ballot title was as follows:

“

An initiative augmenting funding for K-12 education by increasing the individual and corporate income tax rates.

”

Long ballot title

The long ballot title was as follows:

“

An initiative relating to education and taxation; amending Title 33, Chapter 9, Idaho Code with the addition of a new section creating a supplemental fund titled the Quality Education Fund to be utilized by the State Board of Education for the betterment of K-12 public schools, providing that funds be distributed each year by August 31 to school districts and public charter schools, and directing the State Board of Education to promulgate implementing rules; amending Title 63, Chapter 30, Idaho Code by modifying the seventh individual income tax bracket, creating an eighth bracket for taxable income in excess of $250,000, taxing income in the eighth bracket at the tax rate of 9.925%, increasing the corporate income tax rate to 8%, and distributing revenue collected as a result of the increased rates to the newly created quality education fund; declaring the act effective January 1, 2021: And providing for severability

”

Full text

The full text of the initiative can be found here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Idaho

The state process

In Idaho, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 6 percent of the registered voters as of the state's last general election. Petitions can be circulated for up to 18 months. Idaho features a distribution requirement that signatures equal to at least 6 percent of registered voters in 18 of the state's 35 legislative districts be included in petitions. Signatures for initiatives must be submitted by May 1 of the year in which the measure is to go on the ballot.

The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2020 ballot:

• Signatures: 55,057 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was May 1, 2020.

Initiative petition signatures are verified by county clerks and then sent to the secretary of state for certification.

Due to a lawsuit filed by Reclaim Idaho, the campaign received an additional 48 days to gather signatures. The signature gathering period began July 9, and signatures were due on August 26, 2020.

Details about this initiative

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• The initiative was filed on October 15, 2019.
• As of March 2020, sponsors of the initiative, Reclaim Idaho, reported having collected more than half of the required signatures.
• On March 16, 2020, petitioners asked Idaho Governor Brad Little (R) to allow online signature gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic. Marissa Morrison Hyer, a spokeswoman for governor's office, said, "Idaho statute does not allow for the suspension of rules regarding the physical collection of signatures, even in times of emergency."
• On March 18, 2020, Reclaim Idaho announced that they were suspending their signature drive due to the coronavirus pandemic. The campaign requested that circulators send in outstanding petitions.
• The campaign did not submit signatures by the May 1 deadline.
• The campaign launched its online signature gathering effort on July 13 using DocuSign. Luke Mayville, the founder of Reclaim Idaho, said, "We only intend electronic signature-gathering to be a temporary solution to an extraordinary crisis. We agree that there is civic value in face-to-face signature gathering. But the simple fact is that face-to-face signature gathering is not possible under the conditions of a once-in-a-century pandemic. The system that we’ve proposed only modifies one very limited aspect of the ballot initiative process. It does not in any way undermine our system of voting, or our broader process of elections."
• On July 31, 2020, Reclaim Idaho announced that it was suspending its signature drive due to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that ordered an emergency stay on the campaign's signature gathering efforts.

Lawsuit

• On June 6, 2020, Reclaim Idaho filed a lawsuit against Governor Brad Little (R) and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney (R) arguing that the restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus made it impossible for the campaign to collect signatures, and therefore the state violated the petitioners' First Amendment rights. The petitioners are seeking a preliminary injunction to grant the campaign 48 more days to gather signatures and temporary permission to use electronic signatures. The 48-day extension equals the number of days from the date the campaign suspended its signature gathering efforts to the original May 1 signature deadline. In announcing the lawsuit, Reclaim Idaho said, "We don’t object to the Governor’s actions to protect public health. But the Governor and Secretary of State have a responsibility to provide alternative, safe means for collecting signatures during a deadly pandemic. We should not be forced to choose between public safety and our First Amendment rights to petition our government."
  • On June 23, 2020, United States District Court Judge Lynn Winmill ruled that Idaho officials must do one of two things: (a) allow the campaign to gather signatures electronically or (b) place the ballot initiative on the November ballot themselves. Judge Winmill concluded that the state restrictions in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus infringed on petitioners' First Amendment rights to place an initiative on the ballot. The judge gave state officials until Friday, June 26, to decide how the state would proceed. Governor Brad Little (R) and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney (R) responded to the ruling in a statement saying, "This decision is a surprising exercise of judicial activism. We plan to appeal this decision immediately.”
  • On June 26, 2020, state officials said they were appealing Winmill's ruling.
  • On June 29, 2020, Judge Winmill denied the state's motion seeking a stay on the judge's previous ruling. Judge Winmill wrote, "There is a narrow window of opportunity to provide Reclaim Idaho and the State the time necessary to establish the process and protocol for gathering signatures on-line and then provide (the group) ... with the requested 48-days to complete the on-line solicitation and gathering of signatures. Granting a stay of the Court’s decision would effectively prevent Reclaim Idaho from having its initiative placed on the 2020 general ballot, and thereby deny it the remedy required by the First Amendment." The state is still appealing the Court's decision that allowed Reclaim Idaho to collect electronic signatures and extend the signature deadline.
  • On July 1, 2020, Idaho officials filed an emergency motion asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to stay a lower court's ruling that allows Reclaim Idaho to collect electronic signatures. The motion filed by the Idaho Attorney General said, "Unless the district court's Order is stayed on or before July 9, Idaho will be forced to abandon statutory requirements that ensure the integrity of its initiative process, attempt to comply with the Order's unrealistic demands, and significantly change its election schedule."
  • On July 9, 2020, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected the state's motion to stay a district court's order that allowed Reclaim Idaho to begin gathering signatures on July 9. Gov. Brad Little (R) said the state will appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. He said, "We will continue our efforts to preserve the integrity of Idaho’s duly enacted laws and to prevent the disruption to our upcoming elections that this decision will cause." The state's appeal regarding petitioners' First Amendment rights has received an expedited schedule with a hearing expected in August.
  • On July 14, 2020, Gov. Brad Little (R) and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney (R) filed an emergency application for a stay to the U.S. Supreme Court. Gov. Little and Secretary Denney said that the district court's ruling would "seize control of Idaho’s initiative process and delegate the vast majority of the Idaho Legislature’s, Secretary of State’s and county clerk’s constitutional and statutory authorities and duties to the very private entities invested in getting their initiative petition on the ballot."
  • On July 30, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gov. Little and Secretary of State Denney and granted an emergency stay on Judge Winmill's ruling that allowed Reclaim Idaho to gather electronic signatures and extended the signature deadline. The Supreme Court said that the "State is likely to suffer irreparable harm absent a stay. Right now, the preliminary injunction disables Idaho from vindicating its sovereign interest in the enforcement of initiative requirements that are likely consistent with the First Amendment." The 9th Circuit Court was expected to rule on Reclaim Idaho's lawsuit on August 13.
  • The 9th Circuit Court remanded the case back to the district court, citing the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

See also

2020 measures

• 2020 ballot measures
• Taxes on the ballot
• Education on the ballot

Idaho

• Idaho ballot measures
• Idaho ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Full text
• Idaho 2020 proposed ballot initiatives