Idaho Legislature wraps up '14 session

“Sine die” — Latin for “without a day fixed” — are the words used at adjournment for the end of the state legislative session which was Thursday, March 20. This was the second shortest session in the last 14 years. We addressed many important issues, did not address others, and focused on growing the economy and balancing the budget.

Here are some of the highlights of our work this session.

Unlike the federal government, Idaho balances its budget each year. As the vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I play an important role in this effort. More than 100 different bills need to be crafted and passed to set the state budget.

The Legislature voted to transfer $24 million to the state’s rainy-day savings account. We also approved a $10 million transfer to the Public Education Stabilization Fund and $2 million to the Higher Education Stabilization Fund. During the fiscal challenges of the last decade, it was these reserves that kept us from having to raise taxes and more deeply cut essential services during difficult years.

There may be no more important action than to allocate funds for our schools. I’m also pleased to report that we have approved the best public schools budget since 2008. The budget reverses $35 million in cuts that school districts — and local property tax payers — absorbed during the economic downturn of the last decade and provides our schools with a $66 million raise. Our budget gives more money for Idaho classrooms and teacher training and provides raises for staff.

Also on the education front, Rep. George Eskridge and I were able to help secure $302,300 to expand North Idaho College’s Sandpoint Outreach Center. This funding will help to continue to grow higher educational opportunities for students in Boundary and Bonner counties a little closer to home.

Idaho is uniquely poised to accelerate the growth of new business opportunities, help create high-paying jobs, and diversify the state’s economy. I supported the Idaho Reimbursement Investment Act, which provides a new performance-based economic development tool modeled on Utah’s successful program. It gives new or existing companies that create new high-paying jobs a rebate on taxes already paid, so the incentive pays for itself. Some have criticized this tool as a ‘give away’ or somehow jeopardizing funding for our public schools and other infrastructure. My perspective is that new growth in jobs is critical and that rebating a portion of new taxes paid still leaves the bigger portion of those new taxes with the state thus providing an increase in funding for education that would not otherwise have occurred. In other words, 70% of new growth is better than no growth. Plus, and most importantly, more Idahoans could get the jobs they need that they can’t currently find.

One of the other important actions we took this session was passage of HJR2. The Idaho Legislature works to maintain tight reins on our executive branch agencies. Congress passes broad acts and then leaves it to the federal agencies to create laws by regulation (the EPA, for example). The Idaho Legislature, on the other hand, closely monitors agency rules and has the ability to accept or reject rules passed by state agencies. HJR2, which I supported, proposes to amend the Idaho Constitution to clarify that the Legislature retains the ability to accept or reject agency rules. It protects Idahoans from over-regulation and helps keep government spending down. This fall, Idahoans will have the opportunity to add this safeguard into our Constitution.

With the legislative session ending, our “citizen legislators” are returning home to their communities and their occupations just as our founding fathers envisioned. We will live under the same rules and laws as all Idahoans and have to make ends meet just like our neighbors. I think this is a terrific system that helps to keep us in touch with reality. It is my honor to serve the citizens of our area and I look forward to seeing you all at the grocery store, the gas station, and in and around our communities. Our work shifts to constituent service after the legislative session and as always I can be reached via email, skeough@senate.idaho.gov; or by phone at home, 263-1839.

Thank you for the honor of serving you in the Idaho State Senate.