Bill description: HB 451 would offer an income tax credit to those who donate to medical residency placement organizations.

Rating: -2

Does it violate the principle of equal protection under the law? Examples include laws which discriminate or differentiate based on age, gender, or religion or which apply laws, regulations, rules, or penalties differently based on such characteristics. Conversely, does it restore or protect the principle of equal protection under the law? 


The Idaho Legislature tends to favor organizations that lobby, independently or with a lobbyist, for tax breaks. As a result, Idaho tax policy is a welter of benefits for special interests to the exclusion of others. This is not an appropriate way to create tax policy.

HB 451 would give favorable treatment to another category of donors, in the same way donors to public libraries, the STEM Action Center, or museums have been granted exceptions. Politically-favored treatment gives these groups an unfair funding advantage over other organizations that also perform charitable work in Idaho.

(-1)

HB 451 would also codify accreditation authority to two private organizations. Only those programs that are accredited by either the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Organization would qualify for this benefit. Similar to enacting exemptions for specific classes of organizations into Idaho’s tax policy, bestowing legal authority to specific private organizations, grants them an unfair advantage over other organizations they might compete with.

(-1)