House Transportation backs phased-in $17M shift from ISP to roads
The House Transportation Committee has voted 10-7 in favor of Rep. Joe Palmer’s proposal to phase out, over five years, the more than $17 million in highway funds that currently go to the Idaho State Police, instead shifting that money to roads. ISP spoke against the bill, saying that’s currently the funding source for 42 percent of its patrol budget. Deputy Director Kedrick Wills told the lawmakers that ISP currently has 146 state troopers on the road, though a study several years ago suggested it needs 88 more than that. “We understand that the proper role of government is public safety, we understand that very clearly,” Wills said. “For us at ISP, we’re interested in not having more roadways necessarily in Idaho – we’re interested in having safe roadways.”
Palmer, R-Meridian, who chairs the committee, said, “I have no intention whatsoever to take any money away from ISP in any form. The transportation system is in dire straits. We are lacking drastically, I think everybody understands that. This is money that can be used there.” He said his bill, HB 157, which would start the transfer not next year but the year after and phase it in over five years, shifting roughly $3 million more each year, would allow time for the Legislature to replace the ISP’s funding with general fund dollars; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com.
Rep. Patrick McDonald, R-Boise, a former state trooper and former U.S. marshal for Idaho, signed up to testify against the bill even though he serves on the committee. “There’s no guarantee – nobody can guarantee that the money is going to be there to take up the slack when we remove this,” he said. “We can find that money from some other place. ISP can’t lobby, they can’t compete with education, they can’t compete with transportation, they can’t compete with Health and Welfare.”
Wayne Hammon of the Associated General Contractors of Idaho, former state budget director for Gov. Butch Otter, spoke in favor of the bill. “It was my job during the recession to cut budgets, including the ISP budget, and it’s not easy. It’s painful, it’s horrible,” he said. “Patrol is underfunded. … They could definitely use more resources. But I think this is a safety issue – this is a safety issue of our roads are falling apart.”
He noted that House members have pushed for the past four years to shift general fund money to roads, but the Senate’s been unwilling. “This is a place we can take money that is already in the transportation system and keep it there,” he said.
Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, noted the Idaho Constitution’s provision that says that the state’s gas taxes and vehicle registration fees “shall be used exclusively for the construction, repair, maintenance and traffic supervision of the public highways of this state.” That’s the provision under which 5 percent of the state’s highway fund goes to ISP.
“I am going to vote to keep that dedicated piece to make sure we do have safe roads,” she said. “That is a constitutional piece I do value.”
Rep. Kelley Packer, R-McCammon, said, “I have not supported this in the past because of my support for ISP and for law enforcement, and that hasn’t wavered.” But she said Palmer’s version this year is “more palatable, because we can fill a $3 million hole a lot easier than a $17 million one. … For me it’s critical that we keep ISP whole. … But I do think that it’s time for us as a transportation committee to start meeting the infrastructure needs of the state. For too long, for too many years before some of us got here, that can got kicked down the road.”
Rep. Rick Youngblood, R-Nampa, said, “I totally support the need for transportation funds – we’ve gotta have ‘em. You know I serve as a local highway commissioner. I know what condition our roads are in, particularly after this winter.” While saying he’s “torn,” Youngblood noted that ISP already is asking for more money. With the bill, he said, “I’m just afraid we might be digging a deeper hole than we already have.”
Here’s how the committee members split in the 10-7 vote:
Voting yes: Reps. Palmer, Shepherd, Gestrin, Hixon, Packer, Dixon, Harris, Holtzclaw, Monks, and DeMordaunt.
Voting no: Reps. Kauffman, Youngblood, McDonald, Syme, King, Wintrow and Gannon.
The committee vote sends the bill to the full House for debate. To become law, it still needs to pass both there and in the Senate and receive the governor’s signature.
