Business lobby refocusing

BOISE – Idaho’s most influential business lobby may be losing some of its fabled clout as the organization focuses on its core members and the state’s chambers of commerce branch off to start their own lobby.

The Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, whose longtime director, Steve Ahrens, retired last year, has been a powerful voice in the Legislature for years, lobbying hard for its positions – and rarely losing – and then scoring lawmakers each year on how often they back the association’s agenda.

“My first year in the Legislature, I got 100 percent from IACI,” said Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, using the popular pronunciation of the acronym, eye-acky. “Last time, it was like 50 percent, and frankly, I did not regret any of my votes.”

Henderson added, “I never felt I understood the fundamental philosophy of their goals, other than that they represent big business.”

Some North Idaho lawmakers are angry with IACI for opposing a long-sought increase in the homeowner’s exemption from property taxes last year, and sending signals it may try to undo some of that homeowner tax relief this year by urging repeal of an inflation adjustor that was attached to the increase.

“When you’re every day talking to people who are afraid they’re going to lose their home because of property tax, it’s pretty hard to support an organization that doesn’t recognize that,” said Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover.

North Idaho chambers of commerce have differed with IACI over local-option taxes, which IACI opposes.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said when she was with the Sandpoint chamber, the IACI agenda “was always by and large contrary to what the goals and objectives of the broader business community in Sandpoint was.”

Keough added, “I wish they’d be a little less narrowly focused on their own goals to the exclusion of the welfare of others. I’m hopeful that the chamber organization gets some legs under it and broadens out that business representation here.”

IACI’s new director is another prominent lobbyist, Alex LaBeau, who for years lobbied for the Idaho Association of Realtors. LaBeau said IACI has gone through an internal reorganization to focus on its core business members.

“No associations, no chambers, no contract lobbyists, law firms,” he said. “They’re affiliate members.”

That means those groups can’t put their issues forward for possible lobbying by IACI, and that prompted the chambers to start their own lobbying group.

“We believe it’s important to have a voice for chambers in the state,” said Jonathan Coe, president of the new Idaho Chamber Alliance and head of the Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce. “There are a lot of good services IACI provides. However, within their structure there was very limited ability for us to be involved in choosing issues.”

The chambers are deciding now on which issues they’ll focus on this year, and they hope to have a Web site up soon. They’ve hired lobbyist John Watts of Veritas Advisers to represent them in the Legislature, and former Twin Falls chamber executive Kent Just has signed on as executive director.

“This is an initiative that we’ve talked about doing for years and finally just got around to doing,” Just said. “Certainly we got the impetus when IACI decided to change their direction. … We decided if we’re going to be in a public policy process, we’re going to have to do it on our own.”

He said the new alliance will focus on “the total business picture, which includes functional transportation and road systems, market-driven education and training, community-based economic development and jobs, realistic employer requirements, favorable tax policy and reasonable environmental regulation.”

LaBeau said he welcomes the new chamber alliance: “I think it’ll be good to have some more voices there. It’s good for business.”

Just said, “I don’t hold any grudges with IACI at all. … They’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to do, and that’s fine. They’re representing who they said they’re going to represent. But that doesn’t include … organizations like chambers.”

LaBeau said IACI’s top priority this year is pushing for the repeal of the personal property tax, a tax on business equipment that brings in $115 million a year. He said IACI wants counties reimbursed by the state for the lost tax money so the bill won’t shift to other property owners. “It’ll be done probably over a period of time,” he said.

House and Senate Democrats already have come out against that proposal, calling it a “massive tax giveaway to big business.”

LaBeau said, “I’ve heard people play this game of small business compared to large business. Well, everybody’s a small business compared to somebody, unless you’re General Motors.”

He also said IACI still thinks raising the homeowner’s exemption last year for the first time since it was enacted in 1982 was the wrong move. “That’s not good tax policy,” he said.

The Legislature voted overwhelmingly to increase the exemption from $50,000 to $75,000, and to tie future increases to the Idaho Housing Price Index. That will bump the exemption up to nearly $90,000 next year because of increasing housing prices.

LaBeau called the housing price index “obscure and not reliable,” and said, “It’s just a bad provision.”

Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d’Alene, said he’s often disagreed with IACI, even though he’s gotten a 70 percent rating from them over four years.

He particularly disagreed with their position on the homeowner’s exemption. “I thought they were looking out for themselves,” he said.