Time is running out to solve big issues

The leadership of the State Legislature is pushing for the session to wrap up the last week of March and if that target is met that means that there are just two weeks left.  

There remain some fairly big issues to resolve, or not, in that short amount of time. The state budget has been written by the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee and now those bills to put it into law are working their way through the House and the Senate.

As it stands, the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, will be an increase of 2.8 percent over last year. This is just under the governor’s budget recommendation of 3 percent growth. This number is in line with how the revenues are coming in at this point of our fiscal year. Idaho’s Constitution requires a balanced budget, a goal that all legislators support and take an oath to meet.

Still to be resolved, and now likely to turn into “going home bills” are the issues of repealing personal property taxes, changes to K-12 education laws, and, very possibly, the argument over whether more of Idaho’s roads — both on the state and local systems — should be open to longer and heavier semi-trucks.

There is strong support to repeal Idaho’s personal property tax which requires everyone, from individuals, to businesses big and small, to account for and pay tax upon items in our homes and businesses that are “personal property.”  Some want to repeal the tax in its entirety, some want to repeal the first $ 100,000 in value. There is a current repeal on the books that phases it out as the state economy grows in order to replace the funds to local taxing entities from the state coffers instead of allowing for a shift from personal property taxes to real property. That phase out has yet to kick in during this economic downturn and there is a desire to jump start that relief.

The energy and momentum behind the so called “school reform” is still a strong force amongst proponents and many legislators. That has resulted in several pieces of legislation that seek to re-implement what the voters soundly rejected in the November election. There are perhaps a dozen bills at various stages in the legislative process that will be heavily debated in what remains of the session.

And finally, S 1117 which would allow heavier and potentially longer trucks to operate on state and local roads up to weights of 129,000 pounds has passed the Senate (I voted “no”) and as I write this is being heard in the House Transportation Committee. There has been a 10-year “pilot project” in southern Idaho which, for the most part, has been shown to cause little added damage to roads and has improved economic return for those businesses that can utilize the bigger trucks. S 1117 would allow designation of state or local roads — think Highway 95 from Lewiston through Bonners Ferry and Highway 2 from Priest River to Moyie Springs — based upon criteria set by the Idaho Transportation Department.

ITD only oversees 5,000 miles of the 60,000 miles of roads in Idaho. But the bill puts ITD in charge of setting the criteria and doing the evaluation of ALL roads as to whether the heavier weights can be handled. It is a contradictory piece of legislation creating potential conflict between ITD and local jurisdictions clothed in the false promise of “local control.” Northern roads and climate are different than the south and many local jurisdictions, law enforcement, medical personnel, and importantly, trucking companies have grave concerns over this bill and would like it to be defeated. However there is enormous political pressure being applied to legislators by businesses that feel they will gain.

 There will be one or two other issues thrown in as the conclusion to the legislative session arrives in these next few weeks. All three members of your District 1 delegation: Rep. George Eskridge, Rep. Eric Anderson, and I, appreciate hearing from our constituents at home and to date we have heard from hundreds on one issue or another. Please continue to stay in touch with us.

My email address is skeough@senate.idaho.gov and the toll free number to leave a message for me or any of us is 1 (800) 626-0471. Follow all the work of the Legislature online at www.legislature.idaho.gov.