Idaho Bills

Relates to the appropriation to the Military Division for fiscal year 2020.

ThisistheFY2020originalappropriationbillfortheMilitaryDivision. Itappropriatesatotalof$83,232,600 and caps the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions at 398.80. For benefit costs, the bill maintains the current appropriated amount for health insurance at $11,650 per eligible FTP; and provides a 5.5% increase for the employer's share of PERSI contributions. Inflationary adjustments include $2,800 for contract inflation. Funding for replacement items includes $756,700 for vehicles and computer equipment. For statewide cost allocation, $32,400 is provided. The bill also provides funding for the equivalent of a 3% change in employee compensation for permanent employees, with a minimum increase of $550 for each employee and the remaining amount to be distributed based on merit. The bill funds 11 line items, which provide $109,000 for land leases; 1.00 FTP and $87,700 for an HR specialist; 1.00 FTP and $102,900 for a statewide interoperability coordinator; 1.00 FTP and $68,600 for a purchasing agent; 1.00 FTP and $102,900 for a software engineer; 2.00 FTP and $126,100 for Youth ChalleNGe team leaders; $650,000 for an armory fund increase; 8.00 FTP and 551,100 for construction and maintenance at the Orchard Combat Training Center (OCTC); 2.00 FTP and $175,400 for environmental protection technicians; $5,545,000 for OCTC equipment; and $778,600 for the funding of 12 positions approved through the noncognizable process in FY 2019. This bill also includes language for continuous appropriation for the Idaho Office of Emergency Management's Miscellaneous Revenue Fund for indirect cost recovery related to hazardous substance incidents.

Amends existing law to provide that a fine may be imposed for certain felonies and to provide that a fine may be imposed for the attempt of certain felonies.

In 1992, Idaho Code § 19-5307 was enacted. It created a special fine up to $5,000 for certain enumerated crimes of violence. This fine is separate from criminal penalties or restitution and is paid to the victim or the victim's family. If recovered from the defendant, often this fine is used to help pay for counseling, therapy or other treatments for the lingering emotional and psychological effects of being a victim of a violent crime. Though this fine works as a civil judgement against the defendant, it does not substitute for any civil action or remedy that may be available to the victim or the victim's family. Idaho Code § 18-306 limits fines for attempts of crimes to one-half the maximum fine that can be imposed for the attempted crime. The Idaho Court of Appeals held that Idaho Code § 18-306 applies to attempts of crimes listed in Idaho Code § 19-5307, so the maximum fine for an attempt of an enumerate crime of violence is $2,500. See Crow v. State, 160 Idaho 201, 203 n.2, 370 P.3d 404, 406 n.2 (2016). This bill adds two violent felonies to the list subject to the fine of up to $5,000: Attempted Strangulation and Felony Domestic Violence. This bills also allows for fines of up to $5,000 for the attempts of two felonies: Murder and Rape.

Amends existing law to provide for certain prohibited conduct by homeowner's associations regarding solar panels, to provide that a homeowner's association may adopt certain rules, and to provide an exception.

This proposed legislation provides that no homeowner's association may add, amend, or enforce any covenant, condition or restriction that limits or prohibits the installation of solar panels or collectors on any property rooftop or structure within the homeowner's association jurisdiction. A homeowner's association may adopt reasonable rules regarding solar panel or collector placement, if those rules do not prevent installation, impair functioning, restrict use, or adversely affect the cost or efficiency of the device. These provisions only apply only to rooftops owned, controlled, and maintained by the homeowner.

Amends existing law to revise training and practice requirements and fees for licensure for counselors and therapists.

The Idaho Licensing Board of Professional Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists is proposing legislation to move educational program and practicum requirements for licensed professional counselors andlicensedprofessionalclinicalcounselorsfromstatuteandallowtheBoardtoestablishtheserequirements in rule. This would allow the Board to approve educational programs based on accreditation standards, regardless of the specific number of semester hours required, and create more flexibility for practicum requirements. These changes were identified by the Board as a way to reduce barriers to licensure and provide more flexibility to applicants. The Board is also proposing to increase the statutory fee caps for the original license, application, endorsement, and renewal fees from $100 to $175; to remove confusing language regarding the payment of fees; and to enable the Board to refund an original license fee to an applicant when a license is not issued.

Relates to the appropriation to the Department of Correction for fiscal year 2020.

This is the FY 2020 original appropriation bill for the Department of Correction. It appropriates a total of $273,246,600 and caps the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions at 2,021.85. For benefit costs, the bill maintains the current appropriated amount for health insurance at $11,650 per eligible FTP; provides a 5.5% increase for the employer's share of PERSI contributions; and temporarily reduces the rate agencies pay the Division of Human Resources for its services. Inflationary adjustments include $219,700 for the department's maintenance agreements for server and storage hardware; its central office and various district and satellite office leases; its online employee education system; and a 2.1% increase in food and dietary costs. Funding for replacement items includes $3,069,800 for myriad items. For statewide cost allocation, $866,200 is provided. The bill also provides funding for the equivalent of a 3% change in employee compensation for permanent employees, with a minimum increase of $550 for each employee and the remaining amount to be distributed based on merit. Funding for a 3% upward shift in the compensation schedule is also included. The bill funds nine line items, which provide $2,354,100 for correctional officer entry-level pay; 17.00 FTP and $1,465,900 for probation and parole staff; 2.00 FTP and $140,200 for presentence investigators; $300,000 for electronic monitoring; $575,300 for base software licensing; $1,030,200 for PREA screenings; $461,800 for cybersecurity upgrades; $216,900 for inmate pay; and a reduction of $4,340,000 due to Medicaid expansion. The bill also provides reappropriation authority for $7,016,000 of unexpended FY 2019 funding from the Technology Infrastructure Stabilization Fund to be used for replacement of the department's offender management system.

Amends existing law to define terms, to revise provisions regarding locating and marking underground facilities, to revise provisions regarding compensation for failure to comply, and to revise a provision regarding the duties of underground facility owners and excavators.

Idaho Code section 55-2205(2) states, "If there are identified but unlocatable underground facilities, the owner of such facilities or the owner's agent shall locate and mark the underground facilities in accordance with the best information available to the owner of the underground facilities and with reasonable accuracy as defined in section 55-2202(15), Idaho Code." Idaho Code section 55-2202(9) defines an identified but unlocatable underground facility as "an underground facility which has been identified but cannot be located withreasonableaccuracy."Bydefinition,anidentifiedbutunlocatableundergroundfacilitycannotbelocated with reasonable accuracy as required by Idaho Code section 55-2205(2). This legislative proposal will correct this discrepancy and require locatable underground facilities to be marked with reasonable accuracy, aswastheinitialintentofthestatute. ThislegislativeproposalwillalsoreviseIdahoCodesection55-2205(4) to align it with changes to Idaho Code section 55-2205(2). Idaho Code section 55-2208(5) requires that "[u]nderground facility owners and excavators who observe, suffer or cause damage to an underground facility or observe, suffer or cause excavator downtime . . . shall report such information to the board in accordance with the rules promulgated by the board." This requirement may cause duplicative reporting of the same incident by both underground facility owners and excavators. The Damage Prevention Board (Board) and stakeholders believe underground facility owners are best situated to report damage to their underground facilities and excavators are best situated to report downtime they suffer due to violations of chapter 22, title 55, Idaho Code. Accordingly, the Board and stakeholders believe only underground facility owners should be required to report damage to underground facilities and only excavators should be requiredtoreportexcavatordowntime. Thislegislativeproposalwilleliminatepotentialdoublereportingby requiringonlyundergroun

Amends existing law to require an applicant for motor vehicle registration to provide proof of insurance and to require that the Idaho Transportation Department develop an electronic verification system to monitor the status of insurance coverage as to all registered vehicles.

This legislation amends section 49-1234 Idaho Code to specify certain requirements of the online insurance verification program when registering or renewing a vehicle; and providing an effective date of January 1, 2020. The portal with insurance data is already in operation. The Department of Transportation shall suspend the registration of any vehicle identified by the department as failing to comply after the owner has been notified. Idahoans will have at least 30 days to comply. Upon revocation of a registration due to a lack of insurance verification, an owner will be assessed a $75 fee to reregister.

Amends existing law regarding designated routes and local authorities.

This legislation amends Idaho Code Section 49-1004 to eliminate specific pilot project routes as established by the Legislature allowing vehicles up to 129,000 pounds gross weight to operate on certain state highways. The Legislature subsequently provided statutory authority to the Idaho Transportation Board to administratively establish new routes. The routes set in this Section of Idaho Code have subsequently been re-established by action of the Idaho Transportation Department. Accordingly, including the statutory routes in Idaho Code is no longer necessary.

Relates to the appropriation to the Office of Information Technology Services for fiscal year 2020.

This is the FY 2020 original appropriation bill for the Office of Information Technology Services. It appropriates a total of $9,962,500 and caps the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions at 66.00. For benefit costs, the bill maintains the current appropriated amount for health insurance at $11,650 per eligible FTP; provides a 5.5% increase for the employer's share of PERSI contributions; and temporarily reduces the rate agencies pay the Division of Human Resources for its services. For statewide cost allocation, $13,100 is provided. An annualization in the amount of $85,000 is provided for an IT manager position that was funded as an FY 2019 supplemental appropriation. The bill also provides funding for the equivalent of a 3% change in employee compensation for permanent employees, with a minimum increase of $550 for each employee and the remaining amount to be distributed based on merit. The bill funds six line items, which provide $1,262,800 to replace the existing state core network equipment; $26,700 for cybersecurity software; $217,900 to support mobile technology that is on and off the state's IT network; $36,000 for a data center at the Chinden Campus; $164,000 for office space at the Chinden Campus; and $3,373,200 for the Governor's technology modernization and consolidation initiatives.

Relates to the appropriation to the STEM Action Center for fiscal year 2020.

This is the FY 2020 original appropriation bill for the STEM Action Center. It appropriates a total of $4,695,800 and caps the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions at 6.00. For benefit costs, the bill maintains the current appropriated amount for health insurance at $11,650 per eligible FTP; provides a 5.5% increase for the employer's share of PERSI contributions; and temporarily reduces the rate agencies pay the Division of Human Resources for its services. For statewide cost allocation, $1,100 is provided. The bill also provides funding for the equivalent of a 3% change in employee compensation for permanent employees, with a minimum increase of $550 for each employee and the remaining amount to be distributed based on merit. Funding for a 3% upward shift in the compensation schedule is also included. The bill funds three line items, which provide: $5,000 for an object transfer for an analyst position; and $5,600 for agency billings from the Office of Information Technology Services. This budget also includes an appropriation and transfer of $1,000,000 from the General Fund to the STEM Education Fund for fiscal year 2020 for the Computer Science Initiative.

Stating findings of the Legislature and urging the President and Congress to require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to recognize valid easements existing pursuant to the 1866 Mining Act on federal lands.

Requesting that Congress, the President, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture and the United States Forest Service respect and acknowledge Idaho's sovereignty over its water rights, its right of way for use of water rights, and its desire to remove bureaucratic roadblocks that interfere with Idaho water users' use of their water rights

Repeals existing law regarding an educational pamphlet on AIDS.

In 1988, the requirement for a medical examination for each applicant was removed from Idaho Code. The requirement for the county recorder to issue an education pamphlet on AIDS was added at this time. Applicantsmustcertifythatheorshehasreadthepamphletbyfillingoutaformthatiskeptwiththemarriage license application. This legislation would repeal the requirement for clerks to provide the educational AIDS pamphlet and certify that applicants have read it.