by Logan Finney, Idaho Reports

The Idaho Senate briefly sidetracked two agency budgets this week, holding funding for the Idaho Transportation Department and the Department of Administration over concerns about intent language that would forbid the pending sale of the former ITD headquarters in downtown Boise.

The pending sale of the 44-acre site on State Street has caused concern among some lawmakers over the value of the land and the expense of replacing specialized facilities on the property. There are equivalent concerns about interrupting the transaction this close to closing the deal.

The Senate Finance Committee met briefly on Wednesday afternoon to take up the bills.

“The two kind of go hand in hand,” said Sen. Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls. “They need to go forward together.”

The committee advanced both bills on party lines with little discussion, back to the Senate floor.

“We’ve tried several options. We’ve worked as a subcommittee group. We’ve taken votes,” Cook said. “I think we need to move forward with this and let the chips fall and see what happens.”

If either bill fails on the Senate floor, budget writers will have to reconvene the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, possibly extending the session further past its target adjournment date.

The back-and-forth move to the Senate Finance Committee was unusual, House Appropriations Committee chair Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, told Idaho Reports after the meeting.

“I’ve never seen it before,” Horman said.

Horman said budgets do occasionally get sent back to JFAC before a floor vote, such as last year when she pulled the Attorney General’s Office budget for more work before the joint committee.

The situation here is unique because these two bills have already passed the House, she said, so her committee cannot retake possession of them.

Both bills passed the House by single-digit margins. Two senators were absent from the Wednesday afternoon session and the full Senate did not take up the two budgets.

We discussed the land sale and ongoing legislative talks this week on the Idaho Reports podcast.

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HB 723 – Idaho Transportation Department

STATE STREET PROPERTY. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the authority of the Department of Administration to dispose of the state administrative facility and property at 3311 W State Street, Boise, Idaho 83703 is revoked. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, custody and control of the state administrative facility and property at 3311 W State Street, Boise, Idaho 83703 shall be transferred back to the Idaho Transportation Board. Of the amount appropriated in Section 1 of this act, $32,500,000 shall be used for the purpose of rehabilitating the state administrative facility at 3311 W State Street, Boise, Idaho 83703. Funds designated under this section may be used only for the purpose identified in this section. This appropriation is contingent on custody and control of the state administrative facility and property at 3311 W State Street, Boise, Idaho 83703 returning to the Idaho Transportation Board.

HB 726 – Department of Administration

DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the authority of the Department of Administration to dispose of the state administrative facility and property at 3311 W State Street, Boise, Idaho, 83703 is revoked. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, custody and control of the state administrative facility and property at 3311 W State Street, Boise, Idaho, 83703 shall be transferred to the Idaho Transportation Board.

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