by Logan Finney, Idaho Reports  

The Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee approved House Bill 521 on Tuesday afternoon. Legislative leadership and Gov. Brad Little’s office collaborated to draft the bill, and it largely aligns with Little’s early session pitch to address the state of disrepair in Idaho schools.

Committee chairman Sen. Doug Ricks, R-Rexburg, walked the panel through the 30-page proposal.

The state would commit an annual $125 million of sales tax revenues for the next ten years to bond for $1 billion, then distribute the proceeds to school districts for their facility modernization needs.

The legislation would mark a historic shift toward the state legislature funding school buildings and addressing its constitutional responsibility to provide a uniform and thorough Idaho school system.

“This isn’t perfect, and you might want to do it a different way. But this is a way that at least gets it off first base and moving,” said Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle. “Things can be refined and improved in the future.”

The bill also makes several tweaks to the property tax relief framework set up under last year’s HB 292, which sends money to school districts to offset their existing tax levies and bond payments.

As discussed last month in the House, where all revenue legislation must originate, HB 521 also contains a litany of “accountability” measures along with the 10-year $125 million investment.

The bill eliminates the August election date on which school districts can currently ask their voters to approve bond and levy measures. It would require any district receiving the bond funds to follow yet-to-be-established guidelines before transitioning to a four-day school week, as well as ban them from requiring job applicants to sign written diversity statements. It also would make the president and executive director of the State Board of Education appointees of the governor.

Ricks in his introduction emphasized that the bill’s subject is labeled taxation. Along with an income tax reduction from 5.8% to 5.695%, he said the state taking some of the burden for buildings off of local school districts will lead to significant property tax relief down the road.

Citizen testimony included dismay that this historic funding for schools – and the state finally stepping up to its education uniformity constitutional mandate – only comes as a secondary feature of a huge bill, full of education policy, that on its face is called a piece of tax cut legislation.

Sen. Ali Rabe, D-Boise, said nearly anything funded with taxes could fall under such an umbrella.

“Just from a perspective of public policy making, it makes it confusing for the stakeholders, and even us,” Rabe said. “We have to vote for things we don’t like to get the things we do like. It just doesn’t feel good… I think we should try to push back on that type of approach in the future.”

Sen. Geoff Schroeder, R-Mountain Home, said he was confident the bill would stand up to a single-subject rule challenge after looking at the relevant case law from the Idaho Supreme Court.

“It appears to be that subject of creating school modernization,” Schroeder said.

Sen. Rick Just, D-Boise, broached the issue from a more practical stance than a philosophical one.

“Someone, someday, will sue over the single subject,” Just said, “We would lose [everything in] this bill if they won.”

He recommended adding a severability clause as a precaution – but as a trailer bill, not by opening up HB 521 for amendments on the Senate floor. With that caveat, Ricks was open to the suggestion.

“I’m disappointed we have to couch it in dozens of other policies at the same time, but I will support this,” Rabe said.

Sen. Chris Trakel, R-Caldwell, voted no. He told Idaho Reports on Wednesday he thought the bill lacks oversight over districts’ ability to run new bonds and levies after they receive the funding.

The rest of the committee voted in favor of sending HB 521 to the Senate floor, its final stop before the governor’s desk.

Little sent out a press release after the vote:

“This top priority bill proposes the largest investment ever in school facilities and lowers income taxes even further. It also has the added benefit of long term property tax relief because the state is footing the bill for many improvements local property owners would otherwise cover. Thank you, legislators, for putting kids and families first!” Little said.

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