BOISE, Idaho — State officials raised concerns over Reclaim Idaho's Quality Education Act after an article by the tax foundation pointed out what it still believes to be errors.
Claims the Quality Education Act — a ballot initiative for more education funding — would actually raise taxes by $570 million are not accurate, according to the Attorney General's Office, which now says it was a drafting error.
As first reported in the Idaho Press, the Attorney General's office states “the mistake is ours.”
“We now know it was an inadvertent typographical error that was made by our office in the certificate of review,” the attorney general’s office staff said in an email.
Related: Concerns raised over Reclaim Idaho's Quality Education Act ballot initiative
“The error originated in the attorney general’s office. Thankfully, the attorney general just a few days ago actually recognized that and took responsibility for the error and they’ve pointed to a clear path forward,” Co-founder of Reclaim Idaho Luke Mayville said. “The AG’s office has really done a great service to the public by setting the record straight on this.”
The AG’s office also stated their email claiming the initiative would reverse tax cuts was not a commentary on the drafting of the initiative, but “the e-mail simply analyzes the likely effect of the initiative if adopted.”
“it looks like there's a consensus now among the experts who have looked at this that this initiative will do exactly what it was designed to do. And that is that it will increase funding for K-12 education without any new taxes on individuals making under 250,000 a year,” Mayville said.
In a tweet, the author of the original tax foundation article says the errors are still real. You can read his claims here.
