Bill Deadlines: Friday, February 10 was the last day a House member could introduce legislation. It has been a mad scramble, but I made the deadline. Perhaps the legislation I am the most proud of is an extension of the insulation deduction to residences built prior to 2002 when the energy code went into effect. My co sponsor, John Vander Woude introduced the bill in the Energy, Environment and Technology Committee on Monday. The bill, House bill 485, will be heard this next week in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. The bill could cost the state as much as $1 million dollars, but will generate jobs, approximately 23 per $1 million spent in energy efficiencies. As a member of the Energy Interim Committee I believe that this is good legislation that reduces power bills, puts money in the pockets of consumers and creates jobs. Representative Vander Woude thinks this is a good example of tax relief and much more effective than some of the more expensive proposals.

Idaho State Passport: The House Resources Committee is sending the Idaho State Parks Passport to the floor with a do pass. The sticker will be $10, it is voluntary, you pay at the time of your registration and should generate enough funding that parks will not have to scramble trying to keep our 30 parks ready and rearing for us to use. The Passport will get you into all the parks, but best of all is the provision that you’ll get a reduction off your camping pass.

Revenues: The sales tax collections were up and ahead of projections this January indicating that there may be some funding left over from this year’s budget, which will help next year’s budget. It does appear that the economy is getting stronger. The current year ending balance is projected to be $113.6 million collars more than assumed by the legislature when the budget was set last session. This is positive news for sure.

Constitutional Amendment proposal for a 2/3 vote for any new tax or fee increase: Following in the steps of other states there is talk of proposing such an amendment this session. I believe that this will create gridlock in the budget process. I think it was the Idaho Statesman that made the point that flexibility, especially in very tight revenue times, should be encouraged. The legislature must do a balancing act between funding the programs that can help the most vulnerable with what the taxpayers can really pay. The legislature also must establish the very basic level of funding for state agencies so they can do the job of providing the services needed. It’s a tough process, but I don’t believe we need an artificial barrier of a 2/3 vote every time we want to increase a fee or tax. That being said, you wouldn’t believe the number of fee increases that we are seeing this session. Our mantra is let the user pay the fee, but the fees are really crawling up. Representative Killen today compared this development to school budgets. The budgets have been cut so much that the districts have to pass supplementals to maintain a level of funding acceptable to the patrons.
Nullify EPA: Representative Harwood of St Maries asked the Environment, Energy and Technology Committee to print a proposed piece of legislation that basically would nullify the EPA in Idaho. All the EPA authorities in Idaho would then go to the Department of Environmental Quality. Rep Harwood said there would be no fiscal impact to the state’s general fund. I had a real problem with this as I don’t think we could afford to enforce the Clean Water and Clean Air acts without the federal funding. Rep Harwood’s SOP said “Idaho can recover the cost by creating more business in Idaho as we become a state that is more business friendly through regulating our own state regulations.” The proposed legislation was not introduced by the committee and failed on a vote of 10 – 5.
Please keep in touch! wjaquet@house.idaho.gov    800/626-0471