What to Watch: Week of February 8

If you haven’t already, be sure to reach out to your state representatives to ask for their support for House Bill 53. This bill, if enacted, would allow counties and other governmental entities to publish legal notices on their respective websites instead of in their newspaper of record. IAC estimates that Idaho’s counties would save over $600,000 in annual newspaper publication costs if online notices are allowed. Please reach out to your legislators today (click here for their contact info) and let them know how much your county would save if it were allowed to publish legal notices on your county website. House Bill 53 will likely receive a vote on the House floor tomorrow.

This week, we expect a hearing on House Bill 73 on uniformity and transparency to be heard in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. House Bill 73 is one of the three proposals put forth by the Property Tax & Revenue Expenditures Study Committee last November. This proposal continues to gain traction in the legislature. House Bill 73 seeks to establish a uniform local government accounting and financial reporting manual which will be overseen by a legislative committee and the State Controller and will be administered by the State Controller’s Office. The proposal will also establish a data repository for local government budget information which will be published on the State Controller’s website. This bill is sponsored by Representative Jim Addis (Kootenai County), Representative Wendy Horman (Bonneville County), Representative Mike Moyle (Ada County), and Senator Jim Rice (Canyon County). We expect a full hearing in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on Senate Bill 1060. This bill sponsored by Senator Steve Vick requires county-wide or district-wide orders of a public health district to be approved or denied by the County Commission in the county in which those orders are to take effect. In addition, the first two violations of a public health order would no longer be considered a misdemeanor.  This version is much narrower than the proposal introduced in the House a couple of weeks ago which establishes a process by which any individual adversely impacted by a health district decision could appeal for relief to the board of county commissioners.