Measure aimed to enshrine policies that have boosted the state’s economy.
Proposed Income Tax Cap Fails to Pass
Voters will not consider capping the state’s income tax rate at 5.5 percent this year.
House Bill 3 contained three proposed constitutional amendments: reaffirming the right to hunt and fish, limiting the use of eminent domain, and the income tax cap. Although the Senate did tentatively pass the bill and sent it back to the House with a special message, the measure was still tied up on the House Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations when the legislative session ended just before the July 4 holiday weekend.
The state’s current personal income tax rate is 5.75 percent, and it is scheduled to fall to 5.499 percent in 2017. If the amendment had gone before voters and been approved, that’s when the 5.5 percent cap would go into effect.
Proponents of the measure noted that it would prevent the state from spending beyond its means and would also lock into place tax policy that has helped the state’s economy grow in recent years. Opponents raised concerns about what an income tax cap would do to the state’s credit ratings, as well as what would be done if the state came into budget trouble in the future.
