Current
It’s springtime in the Capital city. The fruit trees are blooming, the grass is green, and the legislators are getting fidgety! In the old days, when the grass started to turn green, the legislature would soon ‘sine die’ (adjourn the session) because so many of them were farmers! There aren’t as many farmers now but there is the feeling that we need to be finished.
There were 62 bills voted on this week. There were 17 appropriations bills including Public Schools Teacher and Facilities, Department of Education, Colleges and Universities and the State Board of Education. Public Education (K-12) fared quite well after all was said and done. All education consumes approximately 64% of the general fund budget. Health and Welfare is about 21%, Public Safety a shy 10% and the rest of government in the neighborhood of 5%.
The Senate voted down H723, the Idaho Transportation Department appropriation bill, 16-19-0. There has been a good deal of controversy about the sale of the State Street property. I supported the bill which keeps the property and renovates the damaged offices. It is the least costly alternative and saves taxpayer’s money. Easy decision!
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
Camas County Town Hall and Lincoln Day Event April 13 at 3:00pm at the Senior Center
Gooding County Lincoln Days April 13 at 6.00pm at North Valley Academy
Let me know if you would like to host or schedule a town hall meeting.
Call or text if you plan on coming to the Capitol. I would be happy to meet with you and help with whatever you need. I anticipate sine die soon so will be available to meet with you or your organization. Just shoot me an email. smiller@house.idaho.gov
Please put the name of your town in the header or body of the email. I have automated the email system to sort these into a constituent file so they are easy to find. I have received over 14,000 emails since the session started so it’s easy to miss one I should have seen!
The Week
H521, better known as the school infrastructure bill, passed the Senate. It reduces corporate and individual tax rates from 5.8% to 5.695%. It re-appropriates $125 million from the school modernization fund to provide payments for the $1 billion state bond. It also distributes $50 million for property tax relief. Schools will be able to build new or maintain existing infrastructure with this money. It will be distributed according to the present formula using Average Daily Attendance (ADA) which is basically the student population with some modifications.
The USS Idaho was christened and will come into service in about a year. It is the most advanced submarine in the fleet designed for stealth, anti-submarine warfare, land attack, and aircraft carrier escort. The first submarine nuclear plant was designed and built at Idaho National Lab (INL)! Lake Pend Oreille has been used to test submarine acoustics for over 50 years! For more information follow this link to the Idaho Young Republicans website: https://mailchi.mp/idahoyr/12-10695998?e=fe37e16c0c
House Session & Votes
H608aaS allows agricultural landowners to apply to the county for an Agricultural Protection Area. The intent is to protect private land for agricultural production for those landowners who desire to participate.
S 1377 requires paid signature gatherers to disclose that they are being paid to gather signatures. It is a first step in identifying “dark” money. Idaho has a relatively low threshold for initiatives and referendums, so it is relatively easy to “buy” enough signatures by hiring a lot of people to work events and population centers. This will allow people to better understand the process.
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)
JFAC is about done for the year! The ITD appropriation will start again in committee for a new motion.
Budget hearing and setting schedules may be viewed at: Budget Schedules
JFAC agendas may be viewed at: JFAC Agendas
The JFAC meetings may be viewed live at: View JFAC
Transportation and Defense Committee
The committee is done for this session unless something new comes up.
Transportation meetings may be viewed live at: View Transportation
Commerce and Human Resources Committee
The committee is done for this session.
Commerce meetings may be viewed live at: View Commerce
Bill Highlights
I will compile an end of the year highlight in the next newsletter.
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 forward this update to anyone you feel would be interested in receiving it.
Representative Steven Miller
District 24B
Camas, Gooding, and Rural Twin Falls Counties
Idaho State Capitol
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0038
208-332-1061
SMiller@house.idaho.gov
Common Sense Solutions 