Idaho Legislature earns a B this year

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne described the session completed by the 2005 Idaho Legislature as “awesome.”

But then, the governor was biased – most of his important proposals were passed, albeit reluctantly at times.

Certainly, Boise State University political scientist Jim Weatherby was correct when he described the session as “productive.” After all, the Legislature addressed major highway reconstruction, two significant southern Idaho water bills, corporate tax incentives and contractor registration, and they bumped public school funding by 2.3 percent to $987.1 million.

However, the Legislature wouldn’t earn an A if grades were handed out for its performance. Not only were lawmakers forced to approve the governor’s $1.6 billion highway proposal under threat of his veto of other bills, but they adamantly refused to address property tax relief, a crucial issue in such fast-growing communities as Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Sandpoint. Also, state senators thumbed their noses at Idaho citizens by passing legislation that allows Senate committees to close their sessions for any reason.

But the good outweighed the bad, and Idaho lawmakers deserved to be awarded a solid B.

For years, this newspaper has urged state officials and local legislators to fix U.S. Highway 95, publishing roundups that included the names, photos and stories of victims killed in vehicle accidents on the deadly road know as “the goat trail.” The governor deserves full credit for addressing this annual slaughter by vetoing eight House bills to prevent the House Transportation Committee from killing his highway legislation. The legislation allows Idaho to borrow against future federal highway allocations to build and reconstruct 30 years worth of roads in a decade.

Of critical importance to North Idaho, the bill paves the way for a freeway from Coeur d’Alene to Sandpoint.

For southern Idaho, the Legislature passed monumental bills addressing the issue of water rights, including three in which the Nez Perce Tribe dropped claims to almost all the water of the Snake River in exchange for federal cash, property and wildlife concessions. Crucially, North Idaho delegates, led by state Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, won funding for North Idaho water projects and Reps. George Sayler, D-Coeur d’Alene, and George Eskridge, R-Dover, wrung a promise from the governor that protects North Idaho water from southern Idaho users covered by the water-rights legislation.

Despite anti-tax rallies in North Idaho, area legislators couldn’t get Chairwoman Dolores Crow and her House Revenue and Taxation Committee to take property tax reform seriously. The committee pushed tax incentives for corporate headquarters but rejected eight bills aimed at property tax relief, opting instead to divert the issue to an interim study committee. The state will face a property tax rebellion if the committee doesn’t embrace solutions for reform.

Also, the Legislature deserves credit for keeping its promise to end the interim sales tax July 1. However, it failed to begin dealing with the budget crisis that will be caused by the lost penny in 2006-07. But that’s a crisis for another day.