BOISE - State Rep. Phil Hart is in the clear, at least for now.

The Idaho House Ethics Committee charged with investigating Hart voted on Thursday to dismiss the conflict-of-interest charge raised against the Athol lawmaker earlier this month.

Despite Hart's battle with unpaid taxes while serving on the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, the ethics committee deemed that Hart had not violated Rule 38, requiring legislators to declare conflict-of-interest before voting on issues they have special interest in.

The vote to dismiss the charge was 4-3.

A motion to reprimand Hart and remove him from the tax committee also failed in a 4-3 vote.

"It's a big relief for me," said Hart, a third-term legislator running unopposed this November. "I'm glad we went through the (investigative) process. I think it was important to take a look at it based on the degree of publicity I've gotten on this whole issue."

Hart was surprised the dismissal happened so quickly.

"The Ethics Committee meeting today was supposed to be about whether there was probable cause to continue further, but it also transformed into the investigation phase," he said.

The committee dismissed the charge because members couldn't pin down specific cases where Hart should've declared a conflict.

Coeur d'Alene Democrat Rep. George Sayler, a member of the ethics committee, voted against the motion to dismiss the charge.

He also voted to remove Hart from the Revenue and Taxation Committee.

In the end, it was a party-line vote, Sayler said.

"It's regrettable. The issues really transcend the party," he said.

Although Sayler agreed that there were no specific violations of Rule 38, he felt Hart should be held responsible for his behavior over a long period of time - specifically, serving on the tax committee after refusing to pay income tax for several years.

"My position was that Rep. Hart's actions over the past few years have raised the perception among the public of conflict of interest and misuse of his position," Sayler said. "Members of the legislature have to hold ourselves to a higher standard and use Rule 38 and declare conflict of interest even if it is not, strictly speaking, necessary."

He is worried how the committee's vote will be accepted by the public.

"It's disappointing that the public is going to say, 'Well, business as usual. Another legislator was acting improperly and he gets a pass,'" Sayler said. "That's going to reflect badly on all of us. On the other hand, we didn't find that violation of Rule 38 today, so I think there is some rationale for the decision that was made."

Hart stopped paying income tax in 1996, when he sued the IRS contending that the tax is unconstitutional.

He lost the case and an appeal. After seven years of boycotting income tax, Hart faced $300,000 in tax liens from the IRS this year.

He still owes more than $53,000 in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties to Idaho as well, according to the Idaho Tax Commission.

Hart still intends to present a bill next legislative session to do away with the state income tax and raise sales tax.

"There are a lot of good arguments in favor of what I'm trying to accomplish, and I think eventually I can convince the public of that," he said.

An issue still to be addressed is Hart's claim that as a legislator, he was exempt from civil proceedings during and before legislative sessions.

The matter is still before the state Tax Appeals Board.

Whether the Ethics Committee meets again to discuss Hart will depend on what the appeals board decides, Sayler said.

It will be up to the Speaker of the House to make a final decision on whether to remove Hart from the House tax committee, Sayler added.

"Rep. Hart is acting out of conscience, I think, in advocating against income taxes," Sayler said. "Perhaps it's not the most appropriate committee for him to be on, because of his strong views and his past actions."