Legislature rolls out an arsenal of bills to combat transportation deficiencies
BOISE — A trio of bills introduced by Idaho Republican representatives Wednesday seek to fund construction on Idaho’s deteriorating transportation system following the Idaho Transportation Department deeming 700 state and local bridges as “structurally deficient.”
Another 25 percent is expected to hit this status in the next five years, according to the transportation department.
Reps. Jason Monks, Joe Palmer and House Majority Leader Mike Moyle introduced bills to redistribute Idaho State Police funding to local and state highway accounts, redirect flow of rainy day funds to transportation and increase vehicle registration fees, along with fuel taxes.
“There are several bills out there right now that do not go against each other, but they’re not all in one package,” Palmer, R-Meridian, said. “Each one of them is going to have to stand on its own.”
Palmer introduced a multi-pronged bill earlier in the session to raise $200 million annually for transportation, and many of the fundraising proposals the bill outlined were introduced piecewise since.
Palmer’s new bill, introduced in the House Ways and Means committee Wednesday morning, aims to increase all vehicle registration fees in Idaho to raise $20 million for transportation.
Specifically, the bill lists a registration fee increase of $6 for motorcycles, $150 for electric cars, $100 for hybrid cars and $15 for all other vehicles. Palmer also included a sales tax exemption for road construction materials, but this portion of the bill was struck out prior to vote after Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, said the exemption was already in the pipeline because of another bill.
Monks, R-Meridian, preceded Palmer in the committee meeting pushing a bill that would shift $16 million, previously appropriated to the Idaho State Police, to transportation work — 60 percent of which goes to the state highway account and 40 percent to local government.
Additionally, Monk’s bill would shift a third of Idaho’s Budget Stabilization Fund annually to the state highway money account.
Rusche and committee Democrats opposed Monk’s bill. Rusche said he did not approve of absorbing funds for transportation as opposed to investing in education, corrections and health and welfare in Idaho.
“I have to say that the transferring from rainy day funds to transportation doesn’t bother me as much as the permanent removal of $16 million out of the general fund,” Rusche said.
George Wood can be reached at [email protected]