Ballot Measures

Only one initiative made the ballot this year, but thanks to the Legislature, voters will wade through nine complicated ballot measures.

Seven are constitutional amendments that require both a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and a majority vote of the people to pass. They’ve cleared the first hurdle; this election is the second.

One amendment is an advisory vote on whether Idaho should keep the term limits it slapped on local officials from school board members to legislators back in 1994. When that initiative first passed, it also targeted members of Congress, but that portion was thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The final measure on the ballot, Proposition One, is an initiative pushed by pro-term limits groups to try to find another way to go after congressional terms. It would allow candidates to sign term limits pledges, then brand them with ballot warnings if they break their pledges. An earlier ballot-warnings measure passed in 1996, but was overturned in court as unconstitutional.

Here’s a rundown of the seven constitutional amendments:

HJR 6 - Changes rules for Idaho’s state endowment lands so land can be sold and the proceeds banked for a limited time while the state looks for new land to replace it. Currently, if land is sold, the money goes into the endowment fund and no new land can be bought. That’s led to elaborate land exchanges, so the state can keep its land base.

HJR 8 - Modernizes investment rules for state endowment funds to allow more lucrative investments than the current government bonds, if authorized by state law; and creates an “earnings reserve fund” to cushion ups and downs in investment proceeds. State officials expect millions in additional earnings for public schools if a package of reforms including HJR 6, HJR 8, and federal legislation all passes.

SJR 101 and 102 - Delete obsolete language regarding the salaries of Supreme Court justices and other state officials. For example, the constitution sets salaries for the governor and Supreme Court justices at $3,000 per year, but allows the Legislature to raise or lower them. Under the amendments, salaries would just be up to the Legislature.

SJR 105 - Allows people who have a court-appointed guardian to vote or serve on juries. They’re not allowed to now.

SJR 106 - Authorizes the state to guarantee school districts’ construction bonds. No Idaho district has ever defaulted on a bond. The state backing would mean lower interest rates for the districts. If a district did default, its state funding would be diverted to pay off the bonds.

SJR 107 - Clarifies constitutional language on state debts to allow borrowing for “ordinary operating expenses” or debts that are repaid the same year, and to allow public agencies that can’t levy taxes or obligate the state’s general fund to borrow, all without any dollar limit. Requires a public vote for any other indebtedness.