Lawmakers prep for fight over governor's emergency powers | Local News | idahopress.com

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Senator Chuck Winder will speak in the Senate of the Idaho State Capitol on Wednesday, August 26, 2020.

Members of Congress gathered in the House of Representatives at a special meeting held in the capital of Idaho on Monday, August 24, 2020.

Members of Congress gathered in the House of Representatives at a special meeting held in the capital of Idaho on Monday, August 24, 2020.

Idaho's 2021 legislative session will begin on Monday, when Governor Brad Little will deliver his State of the Union address. This photo of the Capitol was taken early last year.

A huge Idaho flag hangs in the rotunda of the State Capitol of the Idaho Legislative Assembly in 2021.

Rep. Brent Crane addresses a group of lawmakers at a self-described "special meeting" in the Idaho State Capitol on Tuesday, June 23, 2020.

The Idaho State Capitol, Tuesday, January 7, 2020. Governor Brad Little will speak at the State State Speech in 2021 on January 11, the day the legislative session begins. 

Ilana Rubel

Scott Bedeck

Boise-Idaho Legislative Assembly members will meet in person at the first regular meeting of the 66th Idaho Legislature on Monday. In the pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 1,500 Idaho people, their top priority is to reduce the governor’s ability to respond to pandemics or other disasters.

R-Boise Senate President Pro-Tem Chuck Winder said: "This has been going on for almost a year, and I think people just feel that the legislature is not playing its due role."

He said: "There are some things we might suggest that the executive branch dislikes, but we think that in this case, there will be enough support to veto the veto."

The Speaker of the R-Oakley House of Representatives Scott Bedke said: “There is no second guess that can explain the decision that the governor must make.” “Some people agree, some people disagree. But the most important thing here is that Who makes the decision."

Bedek said: "Our government system is based on checks and balances." "Also, because you are in a disaster or emergency situation, now is not the time to abandon this historic system. In fact, I can present a case, That's when you need it most."

Not surprisingly, cutting one's own executive power is not among the priorities implied by Governor Brad Little. On Monday, he will use his state and budget information to set the initial agenda for the meeting for members of Congress. Republican governors recently focused their discussion on how to use record state surpluses to invest in infrastructure, including education, transportation, and broadband; and provide some form of tax relief, and many lawmakers have also focused on the latter.

Governor Brad Little will present the State of the State and Budget Report at 1pm on Monday in the Lincoln Auditorium. The lecture hall will be open to the public during the lecture, in line with the second phase of the Idaho rebound plan, but the audience can watch

.

House Minority Leader Boise (I-Boise) MP Ilana Rubel said reducing executive power is not on her core agenda. She said: "We really think this will not benefit working families." "We just don't know that seizing power is how we should use our time in the Legislative Council now."

At the special meeting in August, Republican leaders in the House and Senate used it as a template for the "balance of power" between the Idaho legislature and the executive branch. Wendell said he hopes to introduce a package of bills in the first week of the meeting.

The resolution calls for all measures to be taken, from ending the current state of emergency for COVID-19, to requiring lawmakers to agree whether any emergency declarations will exceed a certain period of time, to constitutional amendments to allow the legislature to convene special meetings instead of waiting for the governor Speech. Wendell pointed out that the constitutional amendment will not be approved by voters in the 2022 general election until both houses are passed by a two-thirds advantage.

Rubel said: "This will require some serious sideboards, because we may be trapped in a legislature for a whole year, which will cost taxpayers a huge price, and will only lead to endless invincibility. ."

Idaho legislators hold regular meetings in January each year, usually working for about three months, although there is no set end time. In recent years, there were only 75 days of meetings in 2020 and 2016, and the historical record in 2003 was 118 days, which almost matched the 117 days in 2009.

Rep. Greg Chaney, the chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary (R-Caldwell), said: "I think emergency power will be the focus of the entire conference." "This really seems to be the most anxious thing for everyone. thing."

Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, chairman of the newly installed House State Affairs Committee, said: "This will be a struggle between the executive and the legislative branch for rebalancing power.... I think it will be in the legislative session. It’s the dominant position, I do."

Here are some other issues that lawmakers will face when they meet in the State Capitol on Monday:

After the chaos during the special meeting in August, including an unruly crowd led by Ammon Bundy, they smashed the glass door leading to the House of Representatives gallery and then filled the gallery ignoring the rules of social evacuations. The Idaho State Conference of the Year for Safety Measures included other state police officers. The meeting was also held during the COVID-19 pandemic, although both Boise and Ada counties had requirements for masks and social distancing, and the second phase of the emergency order limited the attendance of all government meetings across the state to 10. The legislature will not abide by these rules.

It is expected that 70 members of the House of Representatives and 35 senators will gather in their chamber. Seating in the committee meeting room will be restricted to maintain distance.

The legislature formulates its own operating rules in its conference halls, committee rooms and offices. Both Bedek and Wind said that neither legislators nor the public need to wear masks. Wend said, however, anyone who enters the Senate is required to wear a mask. According to the opinion of the Idaho Attorney General, public areas (including corridors) in the Capitol must comply with local requirements.

Wend said: "This will be a challenge." "Our goal is to stay as normal as possible, but if people can't come here in Boise, or even if they come here and are in poor health, it can give people a chance to testify and Participate. Want to enter the building or be exposed in this way.” The legislature has upgraded the technology in the past year to allow remote public testimony, but Bedke said that the use in the House committee will be entirely up to each The chairman of the committee decides for himself. Wind said the Senate is committed to allowing all committees to do so.

He said: "In reviewing these very important decisions, we will do everything possible to involve the public and become part of the decision-making process."

Colonel Kendrick Wells, Commissioner of the Idaho Police Department, said: "The essence of our democracy lies in citizen participation in this process, so our role is to ensure that people feel safe and comfortable when they are there."

Wells said that Internet service providers have three major goals: to safeguard the constitutional rights of everyone; to ensure that government affairs can continue; and to “resolve acts of violence or civil disturbances that occur.” He said this may include arrests and criminal charges.

Although Idaho has been hit by the pandemic and business closures in the past year, the state’s economy has been soaring, housing construction has developed rapidly, and thousands of new residents have poured in.

Rep. Rick Youngblood, co-chair of the Joint Financial Appropriations Committee, R-Nampa, said last week after hearing a hearing on the state of Idaho’s economy: "Our growth is crazy. "But he said the state has long delayed urgent infrastructure needs, including transportation investments.

This is also the top priority of Little’s agenda, and both parties support investments in long-term transportation improvements. A study by Boise State University found that the state’s current annual transportation funding gap is $242 million. This is only to maintain the current transportation system; it cannot solve the cost of growth.

Few people and lawmakers have been talking about investing in other infrastructure needs in Idaho, including the needs of schools. Statewide broadband services; water conservancy projects, etc.

Bedke pointed out that the state’s budget surplus reached a record $600 million. He said: "If we use part of our surplus to invest there, it will save us a lot of money."

The Idaho School Board Association is vigorously promoting the approval of school development impact fees this year. Idaho has allowed the project to fund roads, parks and other public facilities, but has excluded schools. This will shift some of the burden of school expansion to serve the new growth to new immigrants, rather than hitting existing residents by increasing property taxes.

The fast-growing property tax, especially the collection of residential property in fast-growing areas, has caused concerns throughout the state. The Legislative Interim Committee proposed:

People are also interested in legislation passed by an overwhelming majority in the Senate last year, but never heard of it in the House of Representatives to increase circuit breakers. This is the main state Idaho offers to low-income seniors, the disabled, and veterans. Property tax relief measures. Since 2006, there has been no adjustment for inflation.

Minority Democrats announced the following bill:

Rubell said these proposals would reduce property taxes for homeowners while still "keeping important services intact."

The new statewide reporting system will cost $1.7 million in the first year and $1.3 million each year thereafter, and it will require four new state employees, but the idea has been supported to find a way to really boost property tax increases. Bedek said: "I don't think it is enough to repair by itself, but it must be done to get started."

One of the basic tasks that the legislature must complete is to develop a balanced budget for the state before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. It is expected that due to the spring pandemic and statewide closures, state taxes will fall sharply, and almost no reduction of 5 percent of all state budgets this year has been implemented, but it depends on the effectiveness of lawmakers. Since then, state tax revenue has not decreased, but has soared, and the state is now expected to achieve a record surplus of $600 million by the end of the current fiscal year.

The state’s budget stabilization fund is Idaho’s main rain fund with a balance of more than $423.4 million. Legislative budget director Paul Headlee told lawmakers last week: "This is the largest balance we have in the fund since it was established in 1984." "This accounted for 10.5% of general fund revenue last year." This does not include other reserves, including the Public Education Stability Fund, the state's disaster contingency fund and tax relief fund, and online sales tax revenue has been deposited in the fund. Headlee reports that the current total balance of various reserves is $588 million, accounting for 14.6% of last year's revenue.

At the same time, functional departments in states ranging from schools to prisons to health care have reported huge demand, including increased costs due to changes caused by the pandemic. Hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid has met some of these needs, but it cannot be expected to continue in the future.

Bedek said: "We need to find effective and ineffective methods this year." "If we are to rely more on the Internet to provide education, then we need to ensure that the Internet can work properly."

Little and the Republican-led legislature (86 of the 105 seats occupied by Republicans) are both interested in providing tax relief to Idaho because the state has a budget surplus. In addition, approximately $135 million sits in the "tax cut fund", which is accumulating because legislators used online sales tax revenue in 2019 to anticipate future tax cuts, but never allocated any money. Generally, business tax revenues mainly flow to the state general fund and provide funds for local government operations throughout the state.

Bedek said he is in favor of increasing the grocery tax credit to provide tax relief. He said: "This is immediate relief for this year. Don't wait for the a-drop effect, don't wait for bureaucrats to define food, and don't establish an audit system." Newly returned Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg and Senator Christy Zito, R-Hammett The leading group of conservative Republicans is advocating a "conservative agenda" calling for the elimination of grocery sales taxes. Reduce or eliminate property taxes, which are the main source of funding for local government services; and other tax reduction measures. Some Republican lawmakers called for further cuts in state income taxes, which further intensified the cuts enacted in 2018.

Rubel said: "I think the first thing we should do is to consider the core needs of citizens before considering tax cuts. Tax cuts have always been mainly funded and closely related.... I am willing to accept that it can actually help working families. Tax cuts, but we have never really seen any interest in any of them."

there are more. In a typical legislative meeting, legislators proposed more than 500 bills, and eventually more than 300 became new laws.

Recommendations under consideration include:

Legislative Democrats are seeking to "at least begin discussions about medical marijuana," which is now allowed in most states, including five of Idaho's six neighbors.

"I know this situation has been raised in the elderly community," Rubel said. "This is not young people who want to go to the party. This is brought to us by elderly people and cancer patients who really suffer from pain. They are now forced to take opioids and have serious side effects. They are looking for a better one. A safe way to manage pain."

Even if neighboring countries have taken steps to liberalize cannabis laws, the Idaho state legislature firmly opposes any such moves, and even rejects the legalization of industrial hemp that has taken effect at the federal level and is strongly supported by Idaho agriculture.

In 2013, the legislature overwhelmingly passed SCR 112, announcing that the Idaho legislature opposed "efforts to legalize marijuana for any purpose in Idaho." Wind, the main sponsor of the resolution, is currently the leader of the Senate of Idaho.

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