As a long-time Republican, I’m astonished by those in state government who claim membership in the proud party founded by Lincoln. My roots are Republican. My father was a Republican senator from Twin Falls for many years. I served as deputy attorney general for every Republican AG from Wayne Kidwell to Lawrence Wasden. Over the years I worked with many reasonable, responsible GOP legislators.

Yet now, many legislators are trying to dismantle the very programs Republicans established. Among those facing possible cuts are ones that help Idahoans the most: Medicaid, higher education, special education, road construction and improvement, drug treatment, and others. Some even want to cut public school support. The fiscally-responsible Republicans I admired – Phil Batt, Dirk Kempthorne and Butch Otter – were careful with tax dollars but still supported essential programs.

Here’s one thing I bet won’t be cut: the House Bill 93 program enacted into law last year. It grants $50 million in tax subsidies to families who send their kids to private and religious schools. There might even be an effort to expand it.

This program grants these private school parents a “refundable” tax credit of up to $5,000 per child. (The credit is $7,500 for special needs children, although they could very well be denied admission to these schools.) This is not an ordinary tax credit. If the parents’ tax liability is less than $5,000 and they claim the credit, they get a state check for the difference.

Let’s see how this could play out. In 2024, Idaho’s median household income was reported to be $70,214. Using the 2024 tax rate without deductions, an Idaho family would owe about $3,999 in state income tax. If the family claimed a full $5,000 credit for one child, it would be relieved of its $3,999 tax obligation AND it would get a check for $1,001 from the state. A family sending five kids to private school would pay no income tax and get a state check for $21,001.

A couple of other things are worth thinking about.

One is whether Idaho taxpayers want to subsidize religious education.  The HB 93 program has been embraced by the Logos School in Moscow, operated by Douglas Wilson, its Christian nationalist founder. Parents must subscribe to the Logos “Statement of Faith” for their children to be admitted. That nice tax credit will allow schools like Logos to proliferate in Idaho.

Another is the Idaho Constitution’s requirement that the Legislature “establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.” The effect of HB 93 is to create two school systems in Idaho. One is the public school system with page after page of state law governing what public schools must do and how they must do it.  The other is the HB 93 system, which only requires that these private schools teach “English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.”  Every public school district must account for how it spends taxpayer money, both to the State Department of Education and to its patrons. HB 93 does not “permit any government agency to exercise control or supervision over any nonpublic school” and does not “give the state authority to regulate the education of nonpublic school students.”

One state, two distinctly different systems – certainly not what the framers of Idaho’s Constitution intended.

My advice would be for the Legislature to re-think what it has done and repeal HB 93.  That $50 million could be better spent on public education, which has been shortchanged for way too long. It would be a travesty to dismantle the educational system built by generations of thoughtful and responsible Idaho citizens, including Republicans.

Dave High is a former deputy attorney general and chief of the Civil Litigation Division.