However, HB 292 also would have eliminated the standalone March school elections, and the date school districts most often use to run bond issues and levies. Less than two weeks ago, schools across Idaho sought $1 billion in ballot measures, although most big-ticket requests failed.
The March election factored heavily into the governor’s veto, according to Idaho Education News‘ Kevin Richert.
“House Bill 292 removes the very election most used by school districts that rely on supplemental levies to keep up with record growth and maintain schools for Idaho families, thereby removing local control,” Little said in a veto message today. “I do not find it reasonable to permanently eliminate an election date that has become important to so many families and local schools.”
House Speaker Mike Moyle reacts to Monday’s veto.
Moyle told Richert that he is unsure if the bill will be revised.
From Idaho Education News
The March school election wasn’t the only reason for the governor’s veto. State officials say HB 292 would have put $400 million in transportation projects on hold, since the state would no longer be able to use sales tax monies as a bonding tool.
The veto sets up an immediate political showdown, as the 2023 Legislature returns for its 12th and perhaps final week in session.
HB 292 passed both houses with bipartisan and veto-proof support — 63-7 in the House, and 32-3 in the Senate.
Republicans will caucus Tuesday, when the House comes back into session, said House Speaker Mike Moyle, a co-sponsor of HB 292. But Moyle said he expects the House to try to override Little’s veto.
“I’m pretty sure they’ll want to,” Moyle told Idaho Education News Monday afternoon.
While Little urged the Legislature to start over — saying, in his veto message, “Let’s get property tax done right this session” — any rewrite would almost certainly delay the adjournment of the 2023 legislative session.
And any negotiations would take place while lawmakers work through several other unresolved issues. None of the K-12 budget bills have passed the House or the Senate. And the House still has to take up a bill to implement one of Little’s top legislative priorities — “Idaho Launch,” a proposal to provide incentives for high school graduates looking to attend community college or pursue workforce training.
It’s not immediately clear how the veto — and any late-session negotiations on property tax relief — would affect the fate of any other bills still sitting on the Legislature’s docket.
“I think all of them get impacted now,” Moyle said. “I think that you will have a bunch of people that are upset that worked hard on (HB 292).”
Education groups were quick to applaud Little’s veto — and specifically his move to preserve the March election date. And they urged lawmakers to rework HB 292 and provide the property tax relief the bill had promised.
“Public school districts rely on supplemental levies to maintain their operations and losing this March date creates issues with budgeting for the next school year,” Idaho Association of School Administrators Executive Director Andrew Grover said. “Removal of the March date in this legislation was not a necessary component of property tax relief in HB 292.”
“We urge the House and Senate to sustain the veto and work together quickly to bring a bill back that keeps the March election date intact and eases the other concerns related to transportation funding,” the Idaho School Boards Association said in a statement.
“Providing property tax relief and maintaining — or even expanding — school district funding tools are not mutually exclusive concepts,” Idaho Education Association President Layne McInelly said. “IEA members encourage the Idaho Legislature to pass property tax relief that does not undermine the ability of local communities to support their public schools.”
“School districts across Idaho rely on this date to pass supplemental levies that provide crucial operating funds to make up for the funding they don’t receive from the Legislature,” Idaho Business for Education President Rod Gramer said.
But on Monday, Moyle said removing the March election was an important component of HB 292.
“How can school districts honestly look at their patrons and ask for running a supplemental (levy) in March when they don’t even know what the Legislature’s going to give them?” he said. “That’s not even honest. … It’s gaming the system.”
From Governor Little’s Office:
Governor Little vetoed House Bill 292 today, the so-called “property tax relief” bill passed by the Legislature.
“Idaho stands apart from every other state because we focus on making taxes fair, simple, predictable, and competitive. House Bill 292 is not a simple bill. House Bill 292 is a hodgepodge of policy items intermingled with property tax relief,” Governor Little said.
Governor Little noted the bill brings to a screeching halt many ready-to-go transportation projects that help keep up with growth. He said it handcuffs local schools and limits our ability to provide quality public education for Idaho families.
Governor Little said House Bill 292 presents significant impacts on election dates, public defense funding, online sales tax collections, local government sales tax distributions, and funding for transportation, and it jeopardizes bonding for critical infrastructure projects.
He also noted that no state has accomplished more tax relief per capita than Idaho in the past four years. The Governor and Idaho Legislature have delivered $2.7 billion in relief to Idahoans by reducing and flattening the income tax, raising the grocery tax credit, providing rebates, providing some property tax relief, and lowering payroll taxes for Idaho businesses.
Governor Little asked legislators to bring back a bill that simplifies property tax relief.
“Let’s get property tax relief done right this session. The simplest solutions are usually the best solutions, and I believe we can extract the property tax portions of House Bill 292 and deliver a true property tax relief bill this session. A property tax relief bill this session needs to be simple and carried out in a way that does not harm public schools, does not hold up needed transportation projects, and does not reveal more unintended consequences. The people of Idaho deserve simple property tax relief that will endure over time!” Governor Little said.
View the Governor’s full veto letter here: https://gov.idaho.gov/wp-
