Teacher Salary Budget, Transportation Bill Pass Idaho Legislature On 113th Day

By Clark Corbin, Idaho Capital Sun

May 4, 2021

The Idaho Legislature is working toward potentially adjourning the session for the year Tuesday following its most productive day in more than a month on Monday.

Then, early Monday evening, House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, said the House would introduce a new bill, House Bill 394, Monday night designed to prevent a potential government shutdown.

“We have a little issue dealing with all the bills we have passed this year and the effective dates on them,” Moyle said.

That new bill’s passage could facilitate adjournment of the session with the state budget coming together.

“We need to get that done if we are going to try to get out of here tomorrow,” Moyle added.

The Idaho Capital Sun reported on the potential shutdown Thursday. The issue is that the Idaho Constitution says new bills and budgets don’t take effect until 60 days after the legislative session ends. The problem is that the fiscal year begins July 1, less than 60 days away.

The new bill is designed to get around the 60-day issue by changing the effective date of every bill to July 1.

“The solution was to make sure that each individual title and chapter were amended so that is why this is a very long 50-page bill because it’s every bill that we have passed thus far to amend them with the new effective date,” Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, said at the new bill’s introductory hearing Monday night.

Legislators introduced an earlier bill attempting to prevent a government shutdown, but a review by the Idaho Attorney General’s Office found the bill could be a close call constitutionally.

First, the House unanimously passed House Bill 385, the $1.1 billion public school budget for teacher salaries. The bill passed without any real debate.

The House killed the first version of the budget last month after several of the more consverative Republicans made allegations that Idaho students were indoctrinated with social justice programs. The House and Senate responded by passing a bill that bans schools from requiring students to affirm or adopt beliefs, and that appeared to pave the way for the budget to advance.

Legislators actually added $1 million for professional development training for teachers compared to the failed first version.

Hours later, the House voted 49-20 to pass House Bill 387, which provides $313 million in state general fund money for higher education. The House killed the first version of that budget April 7, after a similar debate about social justice programs and diversity and inclusivity programs at Boise State University. The rewritten budget was reduced by $2.5 million compared to the original budget.

Legislative budget writers said the cut was to eliminate funding for social justice programs. But other legislators suggested in floor and committee debate it was an arbitrary amount and a penalty.

A major transportation funding bill cleared its final legislative hurdle Monday and is heading to Gov. Brad Little’s desk

The Idaho Senate voted 29-6 to pass House Bill 362.

The bill does several things.

Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, said the bill will pay for unfunded projects and transportation needs due to growth.

She said Idaho has $6 billion to $8 billion in unfunded state transportation projects, and user fees, such as fuel taxes and sales tax on vehicles, isn’t covering it.

During the debate, Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Winder, R-Boise, brought up a fatal accident that occurred Saturday south of Mountain Home on Idaho Highway 51.

“There is a huge safety advantage to making improvements in roads, providing for better lighting, signage and providing for divided highways, because they do save lives,” Winder said.

Moments after the vote, Little offered support for the bill on social media.

“Thank you to the Idaho Senate for passing sustainable transportation funding for Idahoans!” Little tweeted.

But Sen. Steve Bair, a Blackfoot Republican who serves as the co-chairman of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, opposed taking a larger share of sales tax revenue for transportation projects.

“In my opinion, it is bad policy to fund transportation with general fund dollars,” Bair said. “Dedicated funding sources like gas taxes are much better.”

In the end, however, the bill passed 29-6. The Idaho House had already passed House bill 362 59-11 on April 8.

The Idaho Senate passed a bill that would provide income tax rebates and reduce the number of income tax brackets in Idaho.

House Bill 380 does two main things.

“Everyone in the state who pays income tax will have a tax cut,” Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, said.

House Bill 380 passed 27-8. It previously passed the House 57-13 on April 22.

A Senate committee killed a bill Monday that was designed to allow the Idaho Legislature to nullify and void federal orders, laws or court rulings that legislators believe are outside of the federal government’s authority.

The Senate State Affairs Committee killed House Bill 322 after senators from both parties pointed out problems with the bill.

House Bill 322 would have allowed any Idaho representative or senator to file a complaint about a federal action. If the Legislature’s committee on federalism pursued investigating the complaint, state and local governments in Idaho would be prohibited from enforcing the federal action being reviewed. Ultimately, the Legislature could then introduce legislation that would nullify the federal law or action.

Even though the House had already passed the bill, senators were extremely skeptical.

Sen. Jim Gurthrie, R-McCammon, worried provision of the bill could violate the Idaho Open Meetings Act.

Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, wondered how the bill could possibly be upheld if challenged in court.

Senate State Affairs Committee Chairwoman Patti Anne Lodge, R-Caldwell, worried the bill could open the floodgates for complaints about federal taxes legislators disagree with.

House Bill 322 is now dead for the session.

Before the Senate committee killed it, every House Republican on the floor voted in favor of it on April 16, while every Democrat opposed it.

Monday was the 113th day of the 2021 session — the longest in more than 10 years.

The longest session in history ran for 118 days in 2003.

Idaho legislators will break the record if they do not adjourn for the year by Saturday.

The Idaho Capital Sun, the Gem State’s newest nonprofit news organization, delivers accountability reporting on state government, politics and policy.