Legislative Roundup
 S1241 Property Tax/Circuit Breaker Fix -- This legislation attempts to "fix" a problem created when the majority party passed H389 last year that kicked a couple thousand people off the property tax relief program (circuit breaker) and threatened their home ownership. When they were debating H3898 last year, the Democrats were very vocal about the impacts and shared that widely, but the majority still moved forward. I’m so glad to see that the public outcry has motivated folks to address a problem that should never have been created. I voted to support this new bill and hope it will help elderly Idahoans getting priced out of their homes.
 HB 442 - Attack on Renters -- HB 442 would prohibit local governments across Idaho from placing reasonable caps on rental fees and deposits. The result? This bill would tie the hands of local leaders working to make the process of finding and keeping a home more affordable and manageable as rental prices continue to rise.
Idaho has an affordable housing crisis. Rather than put forward common-sense solutions to solve this crisis (like providing property tax relief) Republican legislators, led by Rep. Joe Palmer, are helping line the pockets of out-of-state landlords and real estate investors.
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 H436 - Income Tax Rebate (for the wealthy)
The Idaho Senate voted 27-7 along party lines in favor of HB 436, the $600 million income tax cut and rebate bill, sending the bill to Gov. Brad Little's desk. This also includes a one-time $350 million in rebates and $250 million in permanent income tax reductions going forward for people and businesses. A motion to send the bill to the Senate's amending order to add a clause to remove Idaho's sales tax from groceries failed.
The income tax rebate is not enough for everyday Idahoans and we should be focusing on real property tax relief. I am disappointed in this bill and will continue to fight for a reinstatement of a more fair homeowners exemption and other means to help people with property tax relief.
 H443 -- Teachers Health Insurance
The Senate voted 32-3 to approve the plan that backers said will allow Idaho K-12 teachers and other school workers to take home more of their paychecks by reducing their costs for premiums and deductibles. The bill is now headed to the governor's desk.
The bill would give school districts an opportunity to leave private health care carriers and join the state’s self-funded health insurance plan. Education should be a priority in our state. In order to do so, we must take care of teachers and their families by providing access to affordable and good healthcare. If we take care of our teachers, we improve the quality of our children’s education.
A legislative compensation committee is recommending state employees get a 3% across-the-board raise next year, plus a merit-based increase of as much as $1.25 per hour. The proposal exceeds the 5% raise that Gov. Brad Little built into his fiscal 2023 budget recommendation. The Change in Employee Compensation Committee debated the issue for about half an hour Tuesday afternoon.
It initially considered a motion to follow the governor’s recommendation, which included a 2% across-the-board increase, plus a 3% merit-based add-on. That motion failed on a 5-5 tie. The committee then approved the alternative proposal 6-5.
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