CHEYENNE -The Freedom Caucus continued its push last week with its bundle of culture war bills.
It hit a couple of snags. But overall the batch is moving along quickly as promised.
One bill which isn’t a culture war pushback is among the pile of ideas to reform the property tax system.
It took on a different curve last week when the Senate Revenue Committee voted for a bill that would cut property taxes but not provide a backfill of dollars to the entities, like the schools, cities and towns that would lose the money.
Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper, made a strange statement during the meeting
He said he believes property taxes are “immoral,” according to Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson.
The state, Ide said, seems to have a lot of money to spend on “boondoggle projects.”
Ide’s opinion which is shared by many Freedom Caucus members and possibly other Republicans is that the state gets the money from property taxes only to squander it on big projects that grow government.
This is not the case but is a notion that seems to persist in the legislature.
I think it’s clear that the lawmakers need to know precisely how the tax revenues from property taxes are spent other than that what they learn from their tax statements outlining the mill distributions.
Property taxes goes to public schools primarily and to cities, towns and counties.
One sort of brutal way to find out who gets the money is to pass the tax cut but with zero dollars to make up any loss.
“I think if we’re going to create a crisis let’s create a crisis,” said Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, who opposed the bill but supported dumping the backfill.
His position had support from Senate Majority Leader Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne.
She said first of all, that she opposes paying back local government for revenue losses due to tax cuts.
It can be difficult, she said, for Wyomingites to understand the impact of tax cuts because of the state’s already low tax structure and it would be valuable for them to see the difference
“I think a clearer understanding of what that looks like when there’s no backfill, when those property tax revenues are reduced, and how services can and will be affected,” she added.
I am sure the lawmakers are getting an earful from the lobbyists for schools, cities, towns and counties.
But maybe a course like 101 property taxes would help them.
The Legislature had a 101 class years ago on gas taxes.
The instructor was former State Rep Mike Madden, R-Buffalo, a retired college professor. Madden explained the complicated gasoline journey that culminates in a price per gallon at the pump.
It was illuminating, Who knew?
The second snag — if it was that—came with another five priority bill; House Bill 80 which directed the Wyoming Attorney General to sue for financial damages any firm caught putting the state’s money into an investment vehicle with environmental, social or governance goals.
I assume this bill came, like most of the others, from the Washington D.C. Freedom Caucus headquarters.
It ran into local problems quickly.
State Treasurer Curt Meier and officials with the Wyoming Retirement System said the penalty would mean the state would lose massive investments -- an estimated $5 billion -- as Wall Street backs away. The bill prompted retired state employees to flood legislators with messages opposed to the bill and its potential damage to their pension benefits.
The bill passed the house last week still without the penalty but with Meier’s sanction.
The Senate gets next crack at this five bill set as the Freedom Caucus continues its breakathon through the Legislature.
Contact Joan Barron at 307-632-2534 or jmbarron@bresnan.net
