The two leading gubernatorial candidates are quarreling over the history of a 2006 property tax relief bill — and both camps have former GOP lawmakers talking on their behalf.
First out of the gate was Debbie Field, campaign manager for GOP Gov. Butch Otter, saying Demcrat Keith Allred has overstated his role in passing tax relief for homeowners.
"The fact of the matter is, the governor’s opponent is taking credit for passing a bill that he had nothing to do with,” said Field, Boise, who served on the House Revenue and Taxation Committee during the 2006 session.
Former state Sen. Hal Bunderson, the former chairman of the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee, was quick to defend Allred.
"Keith was an integral part of our effort to index the homeowners' exemption to the Idaho House Price Index," said Bunderson, of Meridian, who has crossed party lines to endorse Allred's candidacy.
Gov. Butch Otter's campaign has weighed in on the fight between GOP legislative leaders and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keith Allred — saying lawmakers deserve credit for passing a homeowner's property tax break in 2006.
"The real story is the fact that Allred is way off base once again," said Otter campaign manager Debbie Field. "He is a lobbyist and that’s all he is.”
Both news releases were more polished than the error-laden mess sent out by GOP lawmakers this morning, the first salvo in this revisitation of history. (Here's a link to my blog post on that news release.)
The takeaway for me: There's no "I" in team.
• There is no doubt that lawmakers deserve plaudits for finally expanding the homeowners' tax credit (although Senate President Pro Tem Robert Geddes and House Speaker Lawerence Denney have no business getting their noses out of joint, since they voted against this tax relief).
• There is also no disputing that Allred's group The Common Interest helped lobby for this relief, which passed at the end of the '06 session.
Now to the dueling news releases.
Here's the text of the Otter news release:
Today, news came out that Governor Otter’s opponent is publicly taking credit for passing House Bill 421, the expansion of the homeowner’s tax exemption, in 2006.
“The fact of the matter is, the governor’s opponent is taking credit for passing a bill that he had nothing to do with,” said Debbie Field, campaign manager, Otter for Idaho and former Idaho state legislator (1995-2006).
Field sat on the House Revenue and Tax Committee when HB421 was considered.
“The passing of HB421 or any tax relief measure is a direct result of the legislature working together to help Idahoans,” said Field.
The evidence is written right on his website and in the newspapers. The facts clearly state that Governor Otter’s opponent never spoke at any of the public meetings in his lobbyist position and there is no record of him speaking in committee hearings or in open debate.
“The Governor stands beside Senator (Robert) Geddes and Speaker (Lawerence) Denney,” said Field. “They are exceptional leaders in our state and in the Republican Party. The real story is the fact that Allred is way off base once again. He is a lobbyist and that’s all he is.”
And here's the text of the Allred news release:
Today Keith Allred, candidate for governor, said he's proud of his work leading a nonpartisan citizens' group that brought property tax relief to thousands of Idaho homeowners.
As reporting at the time made clear, Allred led The Common Interest's pivotal work to cut property taxes for Idaho homeowners through the 2006 Legislature. Dan Popkey, of the Idaho Statesman, wrote, "As your homeowners' exemption climbs and shields you from property tax increases in years to come, credit a fledgling group of independents who have swiftly become players at the Legislature."
Those efforts were recalled again today by former Sen. Hal Bunderson, Republican of Meridian, who was the chairman of the Senate Local Government and Tax Committee at the time.
"Keith was an integral part of our effort to index the homeowners' exemption to the Idaho House Price Index," Bunderson said. "It was Keith who brought the index to our attention."
Allred and The Common Interest built on that early success with additional accomplishments, including their work to defeat Butch Otter's attempt to raise the gas tax and vehicle registration fees on Idaho families in the midst of the worst recession of our lifetimes.
A statement from a few Idaho legislators today had a few unfortunate errors on the subject.
"I think the errors in today's press release were honest mistakes," Allred said. "In the five years that I led The Common Interest, they tried to get their facts right and we worked together well. I look forward to working well with them again as governor."
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have you looked
at the articles at the time to see how much credit was appropriate?
Yes
According to the AP article, legislative records show that Allred was very involved.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/09/02/1325810/gop-leaders-attack-allreds-role.html
Which one...
Is going to take credit for raising the sales tax?
Just wondering
A lot of fingerpointing going on here ...
... but tell me ... who has the most to gain politically for having done nothing to help average working people in Idaho? It isn't Keith Allred. I think the evidence will support that Common Interest fingerprints are all over the final legislation advocating and leading the charge.
Otter's campaign manager quickly bows to the Governor and then salutes Legislative leaders for their contribution? Hum-mm ... when it all comes down to it ... the Governor is just a governor, and legislative leaders have flip-flopped consistently enough over time that we can call this "political grandstanding", at best.
What do 2006 tax issues have to do with Britney Spears...
or mail-order brides in Davenport, Iowa?
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"Say a prayer for the pretender..."-Jackson Browne
another interesting aspect of this
is how they're trying to tar Allred as a "lobbyist." I don't believe this is accurate.
Fields
I find it interesting that Debbie Field can pipe in regarding her take on credibility..Ask her what happened to 1.5 million of her budget that she could not account for as the Director of the Idaho Office of Drug Policy. What have you done for us?
If EITHER of them knew about the subject, we'd be OKAY.
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"Say a prayer for the pretender..."-Jackson Browne