Idaho Bills

Amends existing law to update a reference to the Internal Revenue Code.

Amends existing law to provide an exemption to any poles or structures supporting electric lines carrying a voltage of sixty-nine kilovolts or more.

Amends existing law to remove obsolete language regarding past grocery tax credit increases and to establish the amount of the grocery tax credit.

Amends existing law to specify a market discount rate in determining the valuation of operating property of rate-regulated electric utility companies for assessment purposes.

Amends existing law to exclude nontaxable Roth individual retirement account distributions from income calculation for the purposes of property tax relief eligibility.

This bill relates to property taxes. This bill removes Roth IRA withdrawals that have already been included in the income calculation for the circuit breaker property tax relief.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding prohibitions.

This legislation provides for technical changes and legal clarification regarding exceptions for applicable materials used in research.

Repeals existing law to remove an obsolete provision of law allowing school property to be used as senior citizen centers.

Adds to existing law to provide that accounts established under the federal Achieving a Better Life Experience Act shall be disregarded when determining an applicant's eligibility for certain programs or grants and to provide for certain assistance subject to appropriation.

Amends existing law to revise eligibility standards for medical assistance to include children with serious emotional disturbance.

Appropriates $1,928,300 to the Division of Financial Management for fiscal year 2018; and limits the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions to 15.

This is the FY 2018 appropriation for the Division of Financial Management. The Division received additional funding for benefit increases, an adjustment to statewide cost allocation, an increase for a 3% CEC that is merit-based for permanent employees to be distributed at the discretion of each director, and funding for cybersecurity insurance. Two line items were approved. Line item one adds $25,000 of spending authority in the Miscellaneous Revenue Fund to allow DFM to provide accounting services to the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission. A like amount was removed from the State Appellate Public Defender's budget. Line item two restored personnel cost funding for a vacant senior financial management analyst position. This bill totals $1,857,400 from the General Fund and $70,900 from dedicated funds for a total of $1,928,300 with an FTP cap of 15.

Adds to existing law to provide legislative intent and to provide for the award of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) school or STEM program designation.

Amends existing law to provide correct terminology and to provide that upper division courses and programs are subject to certain approval.

Amends existing law to provide a correct code reference to the Public Records Act.

Amends Section 39-270, Idaho Code, to provide a correct statutory citation related to public records disclosure.

Amends existing law to revise a provision regarding who may carry a concealed weapon.

Amends existing law to provide for alternate commissioners for the Bear River Commission.

Amends existing law to provide that certain acts regarding public works construction management licensing shall be unlawful; to remove reference to interim licenses, and to provide that the administrator of the Idaho Division of Building Safety shall have certain powers and duties.

In response to a contested case brought to the Public Works Contractor Licensing Board regarding what constitutes "acting in the capacity of a construction manager", DBS proposes to amend the existing language to provide clearer statutory language and to move existing authority from the board to the administrator in order to coincide with the authority of the administrator in Title 54, Chapter 19, and to expedite and better address disputes that may be brought forward, without requiring formal board action.

Appropriates $12,303,000 to the Department of Administration for the Bond Payment Program for fiscal year 2018.

This is the FY 2018 appropriation to the Department of Administration for the Bond Payment Program in the amount of $12,303,000. The Bond Payment Program consolidates payment of the state's bonded indebtedness for the construction of buildings. There are 13 buildings paid for with bonds included in this appropriation.

Repeals and amends existing law to revise provisions regarding attorney's fees in civil actions.

This bill amends section 12-121, Idaho Code, regarding the award of attorney fees in civil cases. On September 28, 2016, in a split decision, the Idaho Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Hoffer v. Shappard, which changed a decades old interpretation of section 12-121. As originally drafted in 1976, the section gave the courts discretion to award attorney fees to prevailing parties. In 1979, the Supreme Court took that discretion and by court rule limited the award of attorney fees to cases which were brought, pursued or defended frivolously, unreasonably or without foundation. The effect was that litigants for the most part have paid their own attorney fees unless the court found the claim or defense was brought or pursued frivolously, unreasonably or without foundation, or unless attorney fees were otherwise provided for by a different statute or by contract. This structure has worked to protect citizens' access to the courts, while penalizing those who sue or defend frivolously. The Court in Hoffer prospectively rescinded its own rule, effective March 1, 2017, and applied a new interpretation of section 12-121 to award attorney fees to the prevailing party "when justice so requires." This places the award of attorney fees in the discretion of each judge without, resulting in uncertainty to litigants, and potentially chilling access to courts due to that uncertainty, and promoting judge shopping. The proposed amendment restores the rule of awarding attorney fees when cases are brought, pursued or defended frivolously, unreasonably, or without foundation, and places it in statute.