President Green talks taxes

The second “Coffee with District Five Legislators” public forum event took place Saturday morning at the Moscow Chamber of Commerce.

Senator David Nelson (D), Rep. Bill Goesling (R) and Rep. Carol Nilsson Troy (R) answered questions from Latah and Benewah county community members about Idaho’s current legislative session.

Statewide tax allocations were among the topics discussed at the forum. UI President C. Scott Green joined in on this conversation to ask why Idaho’s general fund spending prioritizes transportation over higher education.

“To raid the fund that we’re all paying 2% into, as well as raiding the general fund, what does that do to higher education in particular?” Green asked. “Those are funds that would normally go to higher education. Transportation, traditionally, has been funded directly by fuel taxes and federal government. So it just seems to me that higher education continues to lose at every step here.”

When Senator Nelson responded to Green, he said the legislature has difficulty raising certain taxes in Idaho, such as the gas tax.

“I totally agree with you that whenever we raid the general fund, we’re taking away from higher education, K-12, from important health and welfare activities. So I don’t like to do that,” Nelson said. “But since I’ve been there, it’s been impossible. We haven’t been able to raise the gas tax. So I’m kind of dealing with the tools I have.”

In an interview, Rep. Goesling said he believes the Idaho State Board of Education should allocate more money to help UI to offset its budget deficit.

“Having been on the State Board of Education, I’ve argued. I’ve said ‘Look, we bailed out ISU for about $47 million. We bailed out BSU when they were in trouble. Why aren’t we doing the same thing for UI?’” Goesling said.

Other discussion topics included a failed senate bill which proposed increased statewide access to birth control pills, and the proposed Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, a House bill which will ban transgender women from participating in women’s high school and college sports. This House bill, introduced by Rep. Barbara Ehardt (R-Idaho Falls), was sent to the House floor last week. If it passes, it will then move to the Senate.

When asked in an interview if he will vote for or against the bill, Rep. Goesling said he needs to do his research and read the bill.

The next “Coffee with District 5 Legislators” event will take place at 9 a.m. March 7 in the Moscow Chamber of Commerce.

Ellen Dennis can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ellenldennis.