Idaho House Speaker Doubts Tax Repeal will Succeed this Session

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — House Speaker Scott Bedke cast doubt on whether either of two plans to repeal Idaho's personal property tax will succeed this session. At a meeting Tuesday, Bedke told reporters he believes the competing efforts, one to repeal nearly all of Idaho's tax on business equipment, one just a portion of it, may be best to find a "neutral corner."

The Association of Idaho Counties' favors a $20 million repeal; the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry would eliminate $120 million of the $141 million annual tax by 2020. Bedke wants more consensus, rather than asking the Legislature to referee a dispute. While Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter favors industry's plan, Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill said Otter hasn't threatened to delay the 2013 session's end, if it doesn't succeed.