Otter vetoes first two bills, both regarding state employee benefits

Gov. Butch Otter has issued his first two vetos of this year’s legislative session, vetoing SB 1046, which sought to require Health Savings Accounts under state employee health benefits plans; and SB 1057, which sought to change the requirements for the annual state survey of state employee pay and benefits.

Otter said of SB 1046, “This well-intended legislation is fraught with complications and shortcomings, some clear and others more subtle, that compel me to reject it.” The bill, from Sen. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, was patterned on a plan adopted by the state of Indiana, Otter said in his veto message, but that state saw higher out-of-pocket expenditures for its state employees as a result. “Nevertheless, this is a valuable contribution to the growing portfolio of constructive ideas that should be vetted, refined and further considered,” Otter wrote, encouraging an interim legislative committee on state employee benefits to make the idea part of its discussions. You can read his full veto message here .

On SB 1057, from Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, Otter said the bill’s proposal to remove “Hay profile” from the state code regarding annual salary comparisons wrongly assumed it was a reference to a specific vendor, which instead it “refers specifically to the state’s methodology for setting the value of its classified jobs,” Otter wrote. The governor said he’s directed his Division of Human Resources to ensure that Idaho market data is “more prevalent” in future salary comparison reports. “So I veto SB 1057 in favor of those executive actions that will more directly, specifically and effectively resolve the concerns that the legislation sought to address.” You can read the full veto message here .