Legislators mulling education, judiciary bills

Greetings, I hope all is well. The Idaho Legislature is in its 11th week of session. The introduction of bills has slowed but is still well ahead of the last five years. 

In the last week there have been several bills introduced with local consequences. This type of occurrence challenges the Legislature because the time constraints to study the bill, consideration for the outcomes, work with the subject matter experts (at home or at the Capitol) and determining if the bill itself is ready to become a law are time compressed. Some of these bills get introduced, have a committee hearing and get to the floor of the House or Senate within a week. 

Late last week, HB 717 was introduced. It establishes a pro-rating system for the homeowners' exemption system. The exemption allows qualifying homeowners’ home assessments to be reduced by as much as $125,000. This change in turn reduces the total property tax bill and any levy assessments. 

The second part of the HB717 turns the responsibility for establishing property values around when a property owner appeals their property assessment. HB717 shifts the burden of proof to County Assessor offices after a property owner provides evidence (regardless of whether the evidence is offered by an appraiser or other expert witness). In other states where this change has occurred, the tax burden has shifted to residential property owners from commercial properties. The proposed changes have also caused considerable increases in the number of property assessment appeals.  

HB717 will be heard by the House Taxation and Revenue Committee on Tuesday, March 19. 

HB 718 was also introduced last week. This bill changes some of the funding formula for K-12 education to be student based. This 30-page bill will have its first hearing on Tuesday as well. Our school districts are concerned about the new bill as they are just now trying to figure out the impacts of the changes. Our districts are concerned the bill would reduce their revenues when classes are not full and when students are absent; concern is that these losses are amid operating costs despite the need to still run buses, maintain classrooms, pay teaching staff and provide full educational services for all students. The bill's statement of purpose notes a weighted funding formula system is the goal of the Idaho Department of Education and is necessary since the needs of all students are not the same. However, at this time, the bill's language does not include a weighted formula. 

The Legislature has passed bills in the past with the "we can fix whatever problems we find with this bill later" promise. I have found re-addressing previously passed, flawed bills to be very difficult, regardless of the amount of experience with the bill results or effort. 

The funding for the LAUNCH program will also be brought to the floor for a vote soon. This is a $70 million program that helps graduating high school seniors pay for their training when they pursue high-demand careers. The program goal is to prepare young Idahoans entering the workforce with the training they need to fill the jobs Idaho commerce and industry need. These jobs are determined by the Idaho Workforce Development Council. SB 1390 has been introduced to provide more direction and limits for funding this program. Hundreds of our District 1 students have applied for this program. 

Our judiciary is funded separately and as its own agency. In the last few years there has been controversy over the annual raises and overall compensation for our judges. Two years ago, the judges did not get a cost-of-living annual adjustment. This year, the judges are being offered a wage adjustment but with a change in policy regarding their replacement. The change, if approved, would reduce the number of judges available to work cases. This change will increase the burden on our judges and slow down our justice system. I’m concerned about how we are dealing with our judiciary. 

We have had a very respected core of judges who make difficult decisions for our community. With recent compensation changes and the vacancy procedure proposed, we are making the positions less desirable. I have not found good outcomes from these types of situations. We need to keep our judicial bench full of well-qualified, engaged, and wise professionals. Doing so will keep our applicant pool full and deep with a talented group of future judges. 

If you prefer to offer your feedback/insight in print, you can email me at msauter@house.idaho.gov or call 208-332-1035.

Mark Sauter represents Bonner and Boundary counties in the Idaho Legislature in District 1A. He can be reached at msauter@house.idaho.gov.