With Reclaim Idaho in the final days of signature gathering, Democratic state superintendent’s candidate Terry Gilbert is endorsing Reclaim’s $300 million education initiative.
“It’s the best investment you can make in our kids,” Gilbert, of Boise, said in a Monday news release.
Reclaim’s Quality Education Act would raise money for K-12 by increasing the corporate income tax rate to 8%; the 2022 Legislature reduced this rate from 6.5% to 6%.
It would also add a 4.5% income tax for individual income over $250,000 per year, or household income exceeding $500,000 annually. The 2022 Legislature also capped individual income tax rates at 6%.
Proceeds from the new income taxes would be earmarked into a dedicated “quality education fund.” The money would then go into a variety of K-12 programs, including teacher hiring and retention, reducing class sizes, full-day kindergarten and special education services.
Reclaim has until April 29 to gather enough signatures to get the initiative on the November ballot. Under state law, the group must get signatures from at least 6% of registered voters in 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts.
This translates to roughly 65,000 valid signatures. Reclaim has said it hopes to gather at least 80,000 signatures to ensure it has collected enough valid signatures to meet the thresholds in 18 districts. As of late March, Reclaim said it had collected more than 74,000 signatures.
Click here to read Gilbert’s opinion piece.
