IDAHO LEGLISATIVE UPDATE Mar 27, 2019
By Rep. Sage G. Dixon – District 1
Floor Session:
As the session develops and begins to come to a close, the general structure of the days changes dramatically. Instead of frequent committee hearings on proposed legislation, much of our time is spent on the floor going through bills on the Second and Third Reading Calendars that have already made their way out of committees. During the course of this week, we heard a large variety of bills, some of which contained a level of controversy.
One piece of legislation that brought some controversy this week was House Bill 229aa, which relates to the Idaho Electrical Code. This bill would establish an Idaho Electric Code, rather than adopting the National Electric Code every time it is updated. Currently, Idaho adopts this National standard, removing provisions it finds harmful to business, the industry, or consumers in some form. With the passage of this legislation, one of the National Electric Codes will be adopted and set as the base for the Idaho Electric Code. Then, when changes are made to the National Electric Code due to changes in technology, such changes as the State wishes to adopt, can be added to the code. Additionally, this would raise the Apprentice/Journeyman ratio to allow more Apprentices to enter the trade and learn the skills of the industry. Currently, contractors can receive exceptions from the Division of Building Safety allowing them to operate at this ratio; this legislation would just ensure that everyone has the same opportunity for use of the higher ratio and that an unfair competitive advantage is not allowed for certain firms, while simultaneously being allowed for others.
S 1029 would enact the School Turnaround Act. This act would take the bottom 5% of schools and bring in analysts to assess the problems and suggest solutions. Instead of the school districts analyzing the issues present in their districts, it will cost the State more money to pay these analysts to come into the districts and develop this information.
In addition, a bill that I presented will allow for renewable Short-term Insurance plans. Until last August, when an Executive Order was issued on the Federal Level allowing these plans to be renewable, Short-term insurance plans would typically only have a 90 day duration and could not be automatically renewed. Pursuant to the Executive Order, Short-term plans would be allowed to be renewable and extended for up to three years. This bill will allow the Department of Insurance to begin the negotiated rulemaking process and begin discussion on this issue on how these plans can be utilized in our State. These plans are allowed to exist outside the Affordable Care Act, which allows the costs to be reduced for the consumer, helping more people to be able to receive coverage that maybe previously could not.
To learn more about the specific bills we have voted on, please look into any of the following bills on the Legislature’s website. As always, all bills are yes votes unless marked otherwise.
During General Orders this week, we heard amendments on several bills, listed below:
S 1113 Regarding Campaign Finance
S 1057 Continuous improvement plans for school districts and public charter schools
S 1060aa flexible schedules and early graduation opportunities for students
Floor Session:
H 122 Regarding Hemp
H 259 Regarding collection of Sales Taxes
H 267 Appropriation for Colleges and Universities $604,248,500 N
H 268 Appropriation for the Dept. of Environmental Quality $68,415,600
H 266 Sexual Assault Evidence Kits
HCR 23 Rule Rejection relating to Water Quality Standards
S 1155 Appropriations to Idaho Public Television: $9,601,100
S 1119 Providing for an order of renewal for execution of certain judgments
S 1097 Providing for coverage for participants in clinical trials N
S 1011 Regarding Underground Facilities Damage Prevention
S 1170 Appropriation for the Military Division $83,232,600
S 1059 Revising provisions regarding mastery-based education
H 274 Appropriation for the Idaho Transportation Department $727,637,200
S 1075aa Regarding rights of individuals with service dogs and dogs-in-training
S 1129aa Amends existing law to provide for dental therapists
S 1050 Regarding the diversion and use of water, with or without a water right
S 1087 Providing limitations on cost-sharing by the Dept. of Water Resources
S 1088aa Regarding free permits and tags to veterans with disabilities
S 1093 Regarding certain pretrial supervision services and supervision fees
S 1116 Regarding Liquor Account appropriations for certain fiscal years
S 1122 Amends existing law to provide for a juvenile probation fee
S 1123 Revise definition of “debt owed to the court” and remove debt provision
S 1134 Amends existing law to provide for master and county jury lists
S 1108 Regarding payment to districts from driver’s ed. account Fail N
S 1193 Appropriation for Board of Ed. Special Programs $32,025,000-N
S 1194 Appropriation for the Department of Administration $23,743,300
H 270 Providing public school facilities shall be available as polling places
H 251 Providing that certain moneys shall be kept in the Treasurer’s office
H 183 Revising provisions regarding the taxation of corporate foreign income
H 106aaS Providing that a driver shall slow down and move over upon approaching certain vehicles
H 189aa Relating to the authority of officers to conduct certain searches
H 202aa Relating to the State Tax Commission
H 199aa Concealed Weapons-revises the definition of “deadly weapon”
H 229aa Regarding adoption of Idaho Residential Electric Code and supervision
SCR 103 Rule Rejection- related to the Division of Purchasing
SJM 102 Requesting Congress to propose the Regulation Freedom Amendment
SJM 104 Supporting water infrastructure at Mountain Home AFB
H 258 Appropriation for the Idaho State Police $85,108,800
S 1139 Appropriation for Health and Welfare-Medicaid: $2,502,982,100 N
S 1140 Appropriation for Health and Welfare
H 277 Work requirements and managed care for Medicaid due to expansion
H 265 Appropriation for State Treasurer $4,333,900
S 1185 Appropriation for Family and Community Services $118,793,500 N
S 1023 Assault and Battery employees of the Department of Parks and Rec. N
S 1091aa Regarding Hospitalization of Mentally Ill
S 1133 Special Committee on Criminal Justice Reinvestment Oversight-N
S 1131aa Increasing fines for passing a school bus with activated signals N
S 1190 Appropriation for the Secretary of State $5,681,400
S 1191 Appropriation for the State Controller $19,038,100
S 1192 Appropriation for the Bond Payment Program $19,777,000
S 1197 Appropriation for the Department of Agriculture $45,169,000
S 1198 Appropriation for the Permanent Building Fund $70,351,900
H 275 Establishes enhanced short-term health insurance plans
S 1156 Appropriation to the Attorney General $26,505,000
S 1105 Providing advanced opportunities funding for Career Tech Ed N
S 1029 Amends existing law to enact the School Turnaround Act Fail N
S 1188 Appropriation for Community Colleges $48,606,800
S 1189 Appropriation for the Commission on the Arts $2,077,500
S 1074aaRevising provisions regarding reception and board of inmates
S 1152 Regarding broadband service and exceptions for nonprofit corporation
S 1182 Regarding disclosure of information with a solar installation N
S 1151 Regarding the payment of certain damages caused by depredation
Committee Reports:
| Revenue and Taxation:
The Revenue and Taxation Committee held two meetings this week, during which we heard a few Concurrent Resolutions rejecting rules, a couple RS’, and one bill, which was sent to the floor with a Do Pass Recommendation. Concurrent Resolutions: SCR 107 Rule Rejection, Property Tax Administration SCR 108 Rule Rejection, Sales and Use Tax SCR 109 Rule Rejection, Income Tax
RS’ Introduced for printing on: Electronic Cigarette Tax Taxes, Server Equipment, Data Centers
House Bill: H 183 Taxes, Corporate Foreign Income |
| Transportation & Defense:
This committee held one meeting this week, during which we heard one bill.
S 1131aa Traffic, passing school bus |
| Business:
We held one committee meeting this week in our Business Committee. As the session comes to a close and most of the bills are on the floor, and already out of committees, at this point the committees will wind down and often will not meet as there is no business for them to hear. During our committee hearing, we heard a variety of legislation, all of which was sent to the floor with a Do Pass recommendation. SCR 106 Idaho Plumbing Code S 1152 Unclaimed Property, Cooperative Utilities H 275 Short-term Health Insurance Plans S 1182 Residential Solar Energy System |
I encourage you to contact me with any questions or concerns, and I am grateful for the opportunity to represent District 1 in The Idaho House of Representatives.
Lord Bless,
Sage G. Dixon