After Veto, Idaho’s JFAC Does a Do-Over

By Sharon Fisher, 4-21-09

Idaho’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, which had thought it was done, had to re-do a lot of work today: not only the eight appropriations bills that Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter vetoed yesterday in an attempt to force the Legislature to raise the gas tax and registration fees to increase revenue for road maintenance, but also SB1222, the bill on reducing personnel costs in state agencies that the Senate had passed and the House rejected last week.

The new version of SB1222, which passed 16-4 on a party-line vote, reduces personnel costs by 5 percent in agencies funded by the general fund, and 3 percent in agencies funded by the federal government, or by dedicated funds, such as licenses. If the economy permits, Otter at his discretion can reduce the hit on the agencies using $7 million of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), commonly referred to as the federal stimulus package.

“There will be layoffs,” said JFAC Co-Chair Senator Dean Cameron, R-Rupert.

Democrats on the committee, who all voted against the new bill, said it was unfair for the two types of agencies to be treated differently, and that it left a great deal of discretionary power to the Governor. Appropriations “should be our job,” said Senator Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello.

The bill also appropriated additional stimulus funding to transportation, including maintenance, preservation, and construction, according to Paul Headlee, senior budget analyst—meaning that the Transportation Department could choose to spend it all on construction rather than on the much-ballyhooed need for maintenance funds that led Otter to his actions yesterday.

As far as the vetoed bills, Cameron took Otter at his word yesterday—that there was nothing wrong with the bills themselves—and moved to redraft them as is, with the exception of one Fish and Game bill that needed to be changed anyway due to legislation raising some fees, which was not related to the vetoes. All eight bills were covered in a single motion, which passed 20-0.

“I’m not sure whether we’re through or not,” said JFAC Co-Chair Representative Maxine Bell, R-Jerome. “I hope we’re through, but we may not be,” concurred Cameron.