Week Twelve | Idaho State Legislature
March 27 - 31, 2023
In the twelfth week of the Sixty-Seventh Idaho Legislature's First Regular Session, the Idaho Legislature completed its work. It recessed until Thursday, April 6, 2023, to allow the Governor to treat all bills sent to his office. The Idaho Legislature will reconvene Thursday to process reports, take up any veto overrides, and formally adjourn "Sine Die" for the year.
Early this week, Governor Little vetoed HB 292 – Property Tax "Relief" on Monday morning, stating this bill does not adequately address the need for property tax relief done correctly. Governor Little explained the proposed legislation impacts critical infrastructure projects, election dates, and many other issues that will be affected by the bill. He believes property tax relief shouldn't hinder locals, is simple, and is not rattled with unintended consequences. To read the Governor’s full Veto Letter, click here.
The House used the Ways and Means Committee to introduce and reintroduce a trailer bill to address the Governor's concerns on 292 before they took up a veto override on a near party-line vote as Rep. Greg Lanting was the only Republican no vote, along with the House Democrats. The Senate also took up the veto override, and for the first time since 2007, the Idaho legislature used the override process to overrule the Governor's veto.
The veto override in the Senate came with HB 198, a bill on the interest of sales tax deficiencies, replaced with an alternative property tax relief bill to HB 292. A rare procedural option is often called a "radiator cap." The bill removed the portions the Governor mentioned as reasons for vetoing the original property tax idea; this was possible by weaponizing the process and was an attempt to find a potential solution for property tax quickly. The amended bill was passed in the Senate (32-3); however, the following day, the original sponsor requested the House not to concur with the amendments, thus, killing the bill.
The House then continued through this process, making a cobbled mess of trailer bills, including ultimately passing HB 376 and additional JFAC appropriations needed to fix several other errors in the property tax bill. HB 375 and HB 376 need to create a carve-out for Transportation Expansion and Congestion Mitigation funding, public defense funding, and ensure the tax distributions to special purpose taxing districts were done before the surplus eliminator kicked in to offer tax relief. These corrections were crucial to prevent taxes from increasing in the coming budget years. After many long hours of caucusing on Tuesday, the House passed the trailer bill, followed by the override of the Governor's veto on HB 292; the Senate followed suit the next day.
While Speaker Mike "King" Moyle won the political battle in the press, the Governor's veto provided the state with a better and more appropriate result that would generate property tax relief and hold schools and other local government budgets closer to whole. Governor Little responded, "I'm pleased the Legislature passed $117 million in property tax relief for Idaho citizens and businesses. I called for $120 million at the start of the session, and they came close to my recommendation...The process worked, and we are getting real property tax relief done for Idahoans." To read Governor Little's full press statement, click here.
The Senate and House spent most of the week on the floor, working from 9 AM to 7 PM for several days to clear the massive backlog of bills, budgets, and appointments. The backlog is often the most dangerous part of the session as many bills become hostages, and legislators, especially leadership, trade votes to get things done; a regular occurrence and a challenging and often disappointing part of the process in Idaho. But with it also comes the passage of many budgets and support for programs.
Governor Little has worked hard to treat all bills that have come across his desk. Agency legislation, budgets, and dozens of other bills have been delivered and signed in the past week as the Governor works to ensure the Legislature
can officially adjourn for the year. The Governor signed HB 24 – Idaho Launch Program on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at 7:24 PM. The trailer bill, SB 1167, has been awaiting a hearing on the House Floor for days. The trailer was finally heard on Thursday, passing the House Floor (59-11), and sent to the Governor.
After a long week of twists and turns, the House and Senate have completed their business. As the Idaho Legislature reconvenes to finish its official business next Thursday, the only thing left is potential veto overrides.
To see progress on bills, budgets, and rules we are monitoring on our Bill Tracker.