Eye On Boise

Harwood bill would target anti-megaload lawsuits

Feb. 23, 2011 7:57 a.m. • 5 comments

Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, has introduced legislation requiring anyone who files a lawsuit against a transportation project on state highways to post a bond equal to 5 percent of the value of the items being hauled, and if the plaintiffs lose the lawsuit, the whole bond would go to the Idaho Transportation Department. Plus, the bill would authorize the court to award damages to the hauler in the amount of its loss for delays related to the lawsuit.

Harwood said, “This has been brought because of the megaloads. Any time an individual group can stop our commerce from flowing, it's not a good thing, and that's what happened.” Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, an attorney, raised questions about the bill, saying, “It looks like they're paying twice.” Harwood said, “It's the transportation department that most likely will be sued, that's what happened.” Luker said if the bond is excessive, the petitioner should get amounts back beyond the department's costs associated with the project, but said, “the bill doesn't say that.”

Rep. Max Black, R-Boise, said, “I think that that's totally justifiable because they really did put the Department of Transportation into a lot of extra hearings, and transportation costs, going to North Idaho for the hearings and whatever else. Ultimately, they won, but without this, there was no reimbursement for their extra expenses.” The House State Affairs Committee voted to introduce the bill today, though Rep. Phylis King, D-Boise, objected; Harwood said he expects the bill to be assigned to the House Transportation Committee for a hearing.

Harwood compared his proposal to bonds required for lawsuits over state timber sales, and said those bond requirements “pretty much ended any lawsuits on the Department of Lands.”

Five comments on this post so far. Add yours!

slfisher on February 23 at 10:52 a.m.
This is horrifying. How likely is it that the people living along Highway 12 would have been able to raise 5% of the value of the megaloads in order to protest them?
Sisyphus on February 23 at 11:19 a.m.
Penalizing participation in the public process. But for their efforts in court, nobody would have become aware of the efforts to make one of Idaho’s most scenic highways into an industrial corridor. Idaho derives no benefits from those loads and the potential cost to taxpayers is extremely high.

And my God, this has got to be the stupidest things ever to come out of the mouth of a “public servant”.

“I think that that’s totally justifiable because they really did put the Department of Transportation into a lot of extra hearings, and transportation costs, going to North Idaho for the hearings and whatever else. Ultimately, they won, but without this, there was no reimbursement for their extra expenses.”
Idahovoter on February 23 at 11:46 a.m.
Legislators who vote for bills the attorney general says are unconstitutional should be required to file a bond to cover the full cost of defending it in court.

Also, Political appointees of all agencies should be required to file a bond to cover the cost of citizens who are forced to sue to get them to hold public hearings on decisions that put the lives or property of citizens at risk.

The contempt that some legislators have for public processes is breathtaking.
SharonID on February 23 at 3:31 p.m.
Outrage doesn’t begin to cover this latest attempt by our lying, double-dealing, two-faced officials to cut the people who pay their salaries out of the loop. I am sick of seeing my hard-earned tax dollars going to support these hypocritical liars and thieves. If they would actually listen to the citizens who pay them, there wouldn’t be as much need for these lawsuits in the first place.

Wish I could have been a fly under the table at some of those closed-door meetings. A lot of people do.
fortboise on February 23 at 5:00 p.m.
The ITD failed to follow its own rules and procedures if I remember and can summarize a complicated story so succinctly.

ITD prevailed in getting their way, because it was eventually decided they’d be allowed to override the rules.

So, um, that’s kind of a rigged game. Which makes it not all that surprising to see this come out of the Legislature. What Idahovoter said: The contempt that some legislators have for public processes is breathtaking.

Don’t you even dare think to get in our way.