Idaho House panel backs shifting funds from ISP to roads

BOISE – An Idaho House panel voted 10-7 Tuesday to phase out$17 million in highway funds that currently go to the Idaho State Police and instead shift the money to roads.

ISP Deputy Director Kedrick Wills spoke against the bill, saying the money makes up 42 percent of his patrol budget. Wills told the House Transportation Committee that ISP has 146 state troopers on the road, though a study several years ago suggested it needs 88 more.

“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.”

Rep. Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, who chairs the committee and proposed the bill, 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 in 2019 and phase it in over five years, allows time for the Legislature to replace the dollars. Lawmakers will need to find $3 million more each year in general funds if they want to avoid cutting ISP’s budget.

House members have pushed for the past four years to shift general fund money to roads, but the Senate’s been unwilling; Idaho funds transportation solely from dedicated funds that come from gas taxes and vehicle registration fees, and federal allocations.