Legislative Update--Mark Harris

Many of our county officials were in Boise this week attending meetings.  It was good to meet with them and hear about the issues they are facing.  We appreciate what our county elected officials do and all that they have to deal with. 

Late last week, the House Health and Welfare Committee introduced a proposal to repeal the Medicaid expansion that the voters approved a few years ago.  We are finding that the costs of the expansion keep going up and taking a larger and larger part of the budgets.  One of the problems, however, is that when Medicaid expansion took place, the Legislature dismantled the mechanisms that the expansion replaced. Repealing the Medicaid expansion without having something to replace it does not make sense.  Counties, of course, are concerned about this because in the past they paid much of those costs, and there are many people that now depend on Medicaid because of the high price of health insurance.  We will continue to pay attention to this issue and see if it progresses beyond just being introduced. 

Taxes continue to be a topic of discussion as there are proposals of up to $300 million in tax relief for this legislative session.  A proposal of a 5.3% tax rate for individuals and businesses continues to get support.  There is also a new piece of legislation introduced this week to increase the grocery tax credit from $120 per person to $155 per person.  A provision in this bill would allow a person to keep grocery receipts and apply for a refund instead of taking the tax credit.  Negotiations continue to take place regarding proposals for property tax relief, such as who gets it and how much will it be.  Hopefully we will have something to work with in the next couple of weeks.  Speaking of negotiations, school choice bills are still being discussed and those involved are trying to find and gather enough support to bring some legislation for consideration.  

The Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee (JFAC) continues to work on this year’s budgets, and we are hopeful to start seeing budget bills proceed to the Senate and House Floors to be voted on.

As an update from a bill I was involved in from last session, Senate Bill 1365 (S1365) has been implemented.  S1365 permits individuals to opt in and declare next of kin when they renew their driver’s licenses.  This was a concern brought by county coroners and their frustration of the difficulty of notifying next of kin after a death. In many instances, notification was taking several days before a relative was found. The change makes it easier for law enforcement and coroners to find relatives of deceased persons.   I was informed that to date, around 124,000 Idahoans have opted in the next of kin program.  This is good news.