House passes transportation bill, SB 1206, on 51-19 vote

The House has voted 51-19 in favor of SB 1206, the transportation funding bill, after a debate that began well after 6 p.m., sending the bill to the governor’s desk.

House Transportation Chairman Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, said, “It’s the bill that we have worked on for the last month, month and a half. … This is not the bill that I have wanted in the very beginning. … This has been a collaboration of a lot of people.” Palmer said he supports the bill “because I think it does some really good things,” including authorizing GARVEE bonding, extending the surplus eliminator, and tapping the state general fund for roads, next year and into the future. “It’s something that I think we need to be looking at as we move forward, where we know the gas tax is going backwards on us, as cars get better and we have electric cars,” Palmer said. “We know the gas tax is not going to hold its own.”

Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, spoke against the bill. “We are ignoring the fact that we have all this money in our savings accounts,” he said. “I don’t see how we can call ourselves fiscally conservative when we have the money to do it, yet we’re going into debt another $300 million to pay for roads out into the future.”

Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, said, “We are debating going into debt another $300 million on a bill that was introduced yesterday.” She read from the state Constitution, and spoke against debt in general. “Debt overall is bad for Idaho,” the freshman representative said. “There has not been adequate public input to discuss the details of this bill. …This bill adds to our dependence on federal dollars, and I believe that less dependence on the federal government is better for Idaho, and it leads to more freedom for Idahoans.”

Rep. Dorothy Moon, R-Stanley, said she believes GARVEE bonding is “deficit spending.”

Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, said, “I have a couple of question marks. But I do appreciate the fact that we have to do new road projects, and this is a good way to do that.”

In his closing debate, Palmer said he agrees with Nate about favoring smaller government. “I am not always comfortable with some of the things that we need to do to take care of business in Idaho,” he said. “As far as us borrowing $300 million, we are not borrowing $300 million. We are giving the department the authority to allow people to invest in the state of Idaho. To me that is a good investment. This is the proper role of government – we take care of the roads.”

Here’s how the House voted on SB 1206:

Voting yes: Reps. Amador, Anderson, Anderst, Armstrong, Bedke, Bell, Blanksma, Boyle, Burtenshaw, Chaney, Clow, Collins, Crane, Dayley, DeMordaunt, Erpelding, Gannon, Gestrin, Gibbs, Hartgen, Hixon, Holtzclaw, Horman, Jordan, Kauffman, Kerby, King, Kloc, Loertscher, Luker, Malek, Manwaring, McCrostie, McDonald, Miller, Monks, Moyle, Packer, Palmer, Perry, Raybould, Redman, Shepherd, Syme, Thompson, Troy, Trujillo, VanOrden, VanderWoude, Wood, and Youngblood.

Voting no: Reps. Barbieri, Cheatham, Chew, Dixon, Giddings, Hanks, Harris, Kinglsey, Mendive, Moon, Nate, Rubel, Scott, Smith, Stevenson, Toone, Wintrow, Zito, Zollinger.