Contractor license bill advances

BOISE – Idahoans for too long have fallen prey to unscrupulous building contractors who come into the state and rip residents off, House lawmakers argued Thursday, before approving a bill that requires contractors to register with the state.

Proponents of HB 163 said the state requires everyone from barbers to plumbers to be licensed by the state, so it’s only reasonable that building contractors should be listed in a registry as well.

“Even after repeated violations, bad (contractors) can’t be stopped from creating a new business under a new pseudonym the next day and doing it all over again,” said Rep. Max Black, R-Boise, who sponsored the measure with support from the Idaho Building Contractors Association.

Despite an outcry from opponents who said it infringes on people’s freedom and is the worst kind of government expansion, the bill passed on a 43-27 vote. Debate lasted for almost three hours and included two failed attempts to amend or sidetrack the bill.

“I’m a contractor and this bill is backwards,” Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, told the House. “I’ve been taken more by the public than I’ve taken the public. … Some want government to do everything for us.”

Republican Reps. Phil Hart of Athol and Jim Clark of Hayden Lake joined Harwood in voting against the measure, while the rest of the Panhandle representatives voted in favor.

Before being allowed to register, the bill requires that a building contractor pay up to $150, show proof of complying with Idaho’s workers compensation law and have at least a $300,000 general liability insurance policy.

The Contractor Regulation Act, which 18 states have implemented in some form, includes a host of exemptions, including contractors who do less than $2,000 of work and property owners who contract out projects. There is a provision, however, that forces property owners to register if they want to sell their house within 12 months of completing a project.

“We can’t be dictating what people can and can’t do on their private property,” said Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot. “This bill protects turf for certain people.”

Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, proposed amending the bill to allow owners to do projects and still sell their house when they want to as well as increase the exemption for small projects to $10,000.

“The time has come for some sort of regulation,” Roberts said, “but there are major problems in this bill.”

Backers argued, however, that every neighboring state has some variety of contractor licensing, and it is easy for contractors who’ve had problems in other states to come to Idaho, start a project and then leave without finishing it.

HB 163 is one of many contractor regulation bills that both the Senate and House have debated over the past few decades. A licensing bill passed the Legislature in 1965, but was repealed two years later. Since 1989, lawmakers have killed either a licensing or registration measure at least six times, including last year after it passed the Senate.

Yet several North Idaho legislators pointed to the wide support they’ve heard from people in their districts.

“This would be good for consumers, this would be good for the construction industry and this would be good for the state of Idaho,” said Coeur d’Alene GOP Rep. Marge Chadderdon.

Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, said the “bad apples would be weeded out” if the bill passed.

“We’re not going to make everyone happy,” he added, “but we’ve got to start somewhere.”