$50 per resident on governor’s agenda

BOISE – From a $50 check to every Idahoan to help offset high energy costs to ambitious plans to upgrade state parks, add prison beds and increase school funding, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne laid out an agenda for his final legislative session Monday night – but most North Idaho legislators wanted more.

“The governor’s proposals on property tax are not going to be very well-received up north,” said Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle.

Kempthorne proposed expanding the “circuit-breaker” property tax assistance program, which helps low-income elderly and disabled people, and adding a tax-deferral program. But he dubbed the property tax issue, overall, a local problem.

“If citizens believe they are paying too much in property taxes, that debate belongs in the county courthouses and the city halls,” the governor told a joint session of the Legislature in his annual State of the State address.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, who co-chaired a special legislative committee that is proposing major property tax relief, responded, “We do have some situations that need to be addressed that I believe fall within the Legislature’s perspective.” She said that particularly in high-growth areas, some aspects of Idaho’s property tax system “have really gotten out of whack.”

Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d’Alene, said, “I heard a lot more than just from the elderly, the senior citizens and the disabled and so forth. I think there’s a need to do more. Just to say it’s a local issue is avoiding the issue.”

Other proposals the governor made drew more support from northern lawmakers, particularly his plans to crack down on sex offenders. Kempthorne proposed doubling the maximum sentences for the worst sex crimes, and for failure to register. “Let’s give judges greater authority to keep these predators off the streets and behind bars,” he said to applause.

The governor was interrupted by applause more than 30 times during his hourlong speech, with some of the loudest when he credited teachers for Idaho’s successes in education. “Every day, they enter the classroom to teach, inspire and encourage our children. To all of our hard-working teachers, we collectively say thank you,” Kempthorne said.

He called for raising Idaho’s starting salary for teachers to $30,000. Two years ago, that starting salary was upped to $27,500. “When you approve this measure, we can all be proud that in the last few years, we will have raised starting teacher salaries by 20 percent,” the governor said.

He proposed a $1.035 billion budget for public schools for next year – which, if approved, would be the state’s first-ever billion-dollar school budget, and would be a 4.9 percent increase over this year’s funding level.

The governor also called for lowering the two-thirds supermajority now required to pass a school construction bond to 60 percent, if the vote takes place during the primary or general elections. Kempthorne has long pushed for such a change, but lawmakers have been reluctant; now, with the Idaho Supreme Court ordering lawmakers to fix the state’s unconstitutional system for funding school construction, he’s brought the proposal back. To pass, it would require a two-thirds vote of each house of the Legislature, plus a majority vote of the people.

“Place the issue before the people – let them help resolve this issue, the very same people that have the wisdom to elect us,” he told the Legislature, who applauded him.

House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley, and Senate President Pro-Tem Robert Geddes, R-Soda Springs, both told The Spokesman-Review they’d support the move. Geddes said last week that he’d support lowering the supermajority on one condition – that the votes be limited to the primary and general elections.

Newcomb said the court’s given the Legislature clear direction to put the matter on the ballot. “You might as well go there and get it done, because after all, we’re leaving it to the people to decide,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a problem with that.”

There was mixed reaction to Kempthorne’s proposal to send every Idahoan a $50 check to make up for high energy costs, at a total cost to the state of $63 million.

Sayler said under that plan, “The governor and first lady would get $100, and my 89- and 90-year-old in-laws living on Social Security would get $100. You could focus that money more on people who really need the help, and use the rest for school facilities.”