Current

Things are beginning to pick up at the Statehouse.  LSO (Legislative Services Office) reports six times the bill writing requests last week compared to a year ago!  The large Freshman class having their feet on the ground are going to work.

The JFAC (Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee) has adopted a new protocol for the budget process.  A maintenance budget is the portion of a budget that has accumulated to this point in time.  It covers the cost of current operations and personnel.  That’s the lion’s share of the general fund budget.  This week JFAC voted on and passed10 different motions that contained nearly all of the 104 maintenance budget requests that come before JFAC.  Those motions will be drafted into bills that will begin their way through the House and Senate.

In the past, JFAC heard presentations for nearly 3 hours per day for the first 6 weeks then began budget motions. Under the new procedure we will hear shorter but more comprehensive budget request presentations for one and a half hours per day and then have the remainder of the time to work on budgets.  The budget requests heard this week will be motions submitted and voted on next Friday. That will allow legislators more time to evaluate the budgets as they come through the system.  Follow this link to learn more: Fiscal Dashboards

To look further into Idaho’s fiscal transparency, Idahoans can now quickly click to view historic and current statewide budget appropriations and agency expenditures for the fiscal year. To explore, follow this link: Budget Information

Upcoming Millertime

It is a busy time in Boise and there is nothing scheduled in the district for next week.  Please let me know if you would like to host or schedule a townhall meeting.  Please let me know if you plan to be at the Capitol. I would be happy to meet with you and help with whatever you need.

The Process

The session is just getting started so it is a good time to review the process of passing a law. Someone has an idea and usually goes to LSO to get help writing a bill.  When the sponsor is happy with the draft, it is printed as a routing slip (RS), an official document. An RS is owned by the sponsor and is what the sponsor takes to a committee chair to see if the chair will allow the RS to come before committee.  If a committee approves an RS it is then printed with a bill number and assigned to a committee who then owns the bill which is then under control of the committee chair.  If that bill is passed and sent to the floor, the bill belongs to the House and is under control of the Speaker. If the bill is passed by the House then it is normally sent to the Senate and assigned to a committee and a similar process is followed. If the bill is passed by the Senate it is sent to the Governor who may sign, wait, or veto the bill.  As you can see, there are many opportunities for that idea to be derailed! Between a fourth and a third of the RSs written become law.

House Session & Votes

The start of the 2^nd session of the 67^th Idaho Legislature began with the swearing in of the Idaho House support teams, staff, and pages who will serve House members during the session.  The legislature could not function without them.

The daily session will start at 11:00am until we get busy and need more time.  This early in the session there is little to attend to, so floor time is brief.

The first bill of the year was H385 that aligned the Idaho income tax code with the Internal revenue Code. It changed 2023 to 2024.  It may seem silly, but it’s in statute and needs to be updated each year.

The library bill, H384,moved out of committee to the 3^rd reading calendar.  The committee chair requested, by unanimous consent, to bring the bill back to committee.  There is apparently going to be some negotiation with Representative Chenel Dixon and Senator Schroder who are also bringing a bill that addresses harmful materials in libraries.

I believe that libraries are locally governed and therefore should not be governed by state law. The best government is that closest to the people.  The founders thought so, and so do I.

A full list of bills may be found at: Bill List

The House Session may be viewed live at: House Session

Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC)

The JFAC has adopted changes in procedures and begun budget request presentations.  These presentations include budget history and development, line-item requests, fund transfers and consideration of replacement items requests.  Budget setting motions will begin on Friday January 26^th and continue every Friday until concluding on March 15^th.

We have heard 11 budget requests thus far including the Dept of Agriculture, the Tax Commission, the Offices of Species Conservation, Technology, and Energy.  There are inflation requests in nearly every budget. Budget hearing and budget setting schedules may be viewed at: Budget Schedules

Senator Cook and I are Co-Chairs of the Economic Outlook Revenue Assessment Committee(EORAC).  The committee met on January 4^thand 5^thhearing some 20 presentations from business, tax experts and economists report on the business and economic trends of the current and next 2 years.  The committee met again and set an estimated revenue of $5,314.2 million for fiscal year 2024 and $5,599.7 million for fiscal year 2025.  The 2024 estimate matched the Governor’s projection while the 2025 estimate was about $100 million lower than the Governor’s estimate.  In accordance with statute, Senator Cook and I presented JFAC with the committee’s estimates.  The vote setting the budget target will occur in February.

JFAC agendas may be viewed at: JFAC Agendas

The JFAC meetings may be viewed live at: View JFAC

Transportation and Defense Committee

The committee met for the first time on Thursday. There were 3 routing slips (RS) presented and approved for printing.

1. Allow prescreening of trucks at all the major ports in Idaho. Truck weights are determined by equipment imbedded in the highway.  If the weights are legal, the truck can bypass the port.
2. This would remove mandatory license plate replacement. You would be able to use them as long as they are functional.
3. This would give a $5 discount if a commercial driver license is renewed online.

Transportation meetings may be viewed live at: View Transportation

Commerce and Human Resources Committee

The Commerce committee has not met yet.

Commerce meetings may be viewed live at: View Commerce

Bills

You may view the full list of bills at and the bill status at: Bill List

It is an honor to serve as your Representative in the Idaho House of Representatives.  Please share this update to anyone you feel would be interested in receiving it.

Representative Steven Miller
Idaho State Capitol
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0038
SMiller@house.idaho.gov

 

 

• House Updates