Senate panel passes general-fund-shift bill for roads
The Senate Transportation Committee has voted 6-3 in favor of HB 310, sending it to the full Senate with a recommendation that it “do pass.”
Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, praised Rep. Jason Monks for proposing HB 310. “We will be maybe another $10 million shorter than we would have been in the general fund, yeah, we might be,” he said. “However we will be $10 million richer in the dedicated fund for bridges and roads and for the maintenance that we need to do, that we need to fund.”
Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, said, “I’m going to support the motion. I think there is a nexus here. We set education as the highest priority for our funding this year and we did some amazing things, I think, and made a significant commitment. And I understand people’s concerns about that going forward and the amount of money that’s involved in that commitment. … The safer we make our roads, the safer our people are, and the safer when we put a kid on a school bus, sending them to school, that they’ll be. So there is a nexus.” He added to laughter, “Particularly if it helps us get out of here.”
Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, told of going through years of budget cuts in Idaho, including to schools, and noted that most areas of state government still are funded well below 2009 levels; she’s the vice-chair of JFAC. “I can go through every line item in this budget and tell you where we have shortfalls, and that is a constant effort,” she said. “There’s no growth, we hear, on the fuel tax. Well, we could talk about doing some indexing there. … There are other options out there and I cannot support this option.”
Sen. Roy Lacey, D-Pocatello, made a substitute motion to hold the bill in committee; Keough seconded it. That motion failed 3-6, with just Keough, Lacey, and Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb supporting it.
Sen. Lori Den Hartog’s original motion to approve the bill then passed by a reverse vote of 6-3, with Sens. Nonini, Winder, Hagedorn, Vick, DenHartog and Brackett supporting it.
Interestingly, this concept, dipping into the general fund to pay for roads, is exactly what Gov. Butch Otter said in his State of the State message he wouldn't accept; he reiterated that position in comments to reporters on Monday. If signed into law, HB 310 would take effect a year out, on July 1, 2016.
