What to Watch: Week of January 18

Property tax budget caps and newly proposed PDC Rules are at the top of our list for what to keep an eye on this week.

We anticipate property tax budget cap legislation to be introduced as early as this week in the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee. The committee meets every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 3pm. Keep a close eye on the agenda. Click here to watch a live stream of the committee meetings.

Though the Public Defense Commission (PDC) Rules were scheduled for a hearing yesterday in the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee, due to confusion over the plan to repeal and replace certain chapters, the committee elected to postpone the hearing to give them more time to study the possible changes.

The proposed rules include areas of the requirement of an independent counsel to oversee all matters regarding public defense and the parity between the Prosecutor and Public Defenders’ offices.

Please share this information with your Public Defender as well.  Here is the link to the proposed rules: PDC Rules and the link to the administrative bulletin as well: Admin Bulletin. 

The Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee hearing on the PDC Rules is now scheduled for this Friday, January 22. This opens up further opportunities for county commissioners and their county public defenders to testify sharing their concerns about the proposed rule changes. Please reach out to Kelli Brassfield to let her know if you are willing to testify on this issue in person or remotely. She can be reached at KBrassfield@idcounties.org or 208-514-0369.