Idaho lawmakers get down to the nuts and bolts

Idaho lawmakers only took up a handful of bills Friday, but they gnawed them down to the bone during lengthy debates on the House and Senate floors.

The House approved three study committees to review the latest round of federal stimulus funding. It also used the amendment process to do an end run on school officials and eliminate the August school election date.

The Senate, meanwhile, approved a second “balance of power” bill to limit the governor’s emergency powers during natural disasters.

Here are some details:

BACKDOOR MANEUVERS — Legislation that originally addressed the timing of recall elections and filling vacancies in elected positions was amended by the House to eliminate the August election date for school levies and bond measures.

School officials have long opposed such efforts, saying it hampers their ability to budget.

A separate bill to eliminate the August date passed the House earlier this year, but stalled in the Senate. Consequently, the House decided to stick the language in Senate Bill 1062.

The House will vote on the amended bill when it reconvenes next week. Should it pass, the Senate would have to concur or agree to the amendments or the bill dies.

The original version of the legislation passed the Senate unanimously.

MUNICIPAL MANEUVERS — After amending SB 1062, the House amended Senate Bill 1111 in a manner that will shift all municipal elections to even years, beginning in 2024.

As initially written, SB 1111 provided guidelines and requirements for the formation of city council boundaries, for those municipalities that elect councilors by district. It also laid out a procedure for staggering the terms for councilors in those cities, so all the council seats aren’t up for election at the same time.

The House kept the main provisions of the bill. However, it added an amendment shifting all city elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, beginning in 2024.

The move was presented as a “friendly” amendment intended to increase voter participation.

A separate piece of legislation, House Bill 319, also proposes shifting city elections to even-numbered years. A March 18 public hearing on the measure attracted testimony in support and in opposition to the move. The House State Affairs Committee recommended approval of the legislation, which is now on the House floor awaiting further action.

By taking language from HB 319 and inserting it into SB 1111 as an amendment, supporters can put the issue before the Senate without having to go through a second public hearing in a Senate committee.

As with SB 1062, the amended version of SB 1111 will now be voted on in the House. If approved, the Senate would have an opportunity to accept the proposed changes.

THAT’S BILLIONS WITH A B — The joint budget committee completed its initial review of the American Rescue Plan Act, which Congress approved last month.

The federal stimulus program is expected to provide about $5.3 billion in direct payments, grants and other fiscal relief to Idaho over the next few years.

That includes $2.1 billion in direct payments to individuals and businesses through such programs as expanded unemployment benefits, individual stimulus checks, additional Paycheck Protection Program small-business loans and expanded food stamp benefits for low-income families.

Another $1.27 billion would be available to state agencies through various federal grant programs.

Finally, there’s $1.89 billion in state and local fiscal relief funding. That includes $347 million for Idaho counties, $125 million for the nine largest municipalities, another $104 million for the remaining 191 municipalities, $1.18 billion for the state and $126 million for water, sewer and broadband capital improvement projects.

Legislative approval or pass-through authority would be needed for about half of the total amount, including all the state agency funding, the $126 million in capital projects and the $104 million for the smaller municipalities.

Each program or funding opportunity has its own time frame for appropriating the money, for spending the money and different strings or restrictions on how the money can be spent.

The budget committee spent much of the week reviewing that information. It will begin crafting legislation next week to appropriate some of the money. Much of the funding, however, will likely be set aside until next session, when lawmakers hope to have a better idea how it can best be used.

Any money that’s set aside would go into accounts that can’t be tapped by the governor. That’s a direct response to last year’s coronavirus relief funding, which the governor was able to spend without legislative approval because it arrived after the 2020 legislative session adjourned.

Given the complexity of the American Rescue Plan funding, the House agreed to establish three interim study committees to provide recommendations on how the money should be spent.

One would focus specifically on water infrastructure opportunities; it would be comprised of members of the House and Senate natural resources committees.

The second committee would look at sewer and broadband infrastructure investments; it would be comprised of members of the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee and the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee.

The final committee would review any remaining American Rescue Plan funding opportunities that require legislative approval.

A report from the Legislative Services Office estimates the amount of federal money cities and counties around the state will receive. In north central Idaho, it includes:

Clearwater County — $1.7 million

Orofino — $639,003

Idaho County — $3.23 million

Grangeville — $667,459

Latah County — $7.78 million

Moscow — $5.3 million

Lewis County — $744,356

Nezperce — $94,438

Nez Perce County — $7.83 million

Lewiston — $6.2 million

Spence covers politics for the Lewiston Tribune. He may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.