Where would Lawson find funds?

Dear editor:

At the candidate forum in Centerville on 4/1/2010, Marla Lawson said she is in favor of abolishing the state income tax.

With the current state budget deficits, we are already cutting many services. Loss of income tax revenue would only shift the burden to other taxes, such as the property tax. The funding must come from somewhere.

The state has already raised the sales tax to pay for education and that has turned out to be an unstable source of revenue in this economic downturn.

The state tax system was designed as a 3-legged stool: Income tax, sales tax, and property tax. This was designed to be a more constant source of income than any one revenue stream. How will we fund our state budget if we end the income tax? Marla hasn't offered a solution.

Marla also talked about making kindergarten voluntary. This would hurt poor and disadvantaged families the most and would only widen the gap between students when they entered the first grade. Ask a teacher what they think about this idea. Today's kindergarten curriculum teaches more skills than when we were young.

Many kindergarten students are already typing on the computer. Imagine a student who doesn't have a computer at home and the disadvantages that student will have when they get to the first grade.

In regards to Tim Corder's vote on the gas tax, most Idahoans realize that public highways need tax money to be maintained. With the reduced state budgets, it is evident that damaged highways are taking longer to be fixed. Gas taxes are a use-tax, more gas purchased = more highway use, and this is a basic Republican principle -- pay to play.

It was fully appropriate for Mr. Corder to vote to raise transportation related taxes, and when he did, he did so at his own business' expense, because he owns a trucking company.

Mr. Corder is a businessman that still voted in the citizens' best interest.

In the March 10, 2010, edition of the Idaho World, Marla said she had a lot of management experience. Her business, the 'Haven' is a mom-and-pop operation with one employee -- a caretaker. Who exactly does Marla Lawson manage? It's been for sale for eight years at least. The 'Haven' receives less business than any other local restaurant.

William E. Wilson

Lowman