BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Senate put the state's transportation budget - House Bill 723 - in reverse sending it to the Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee (JFAC) for tweaks.
A clause in the budget removes ITD's ability to sell the State Street headquarters; a frozen pipe burst and flooded the building in January of 2022. The Idaho Transportation Department put the building up for bid at public auction in September of 2023.
Hawkins, Pacific Companies, and FJM won the auction with a $51.75 million bid.
"I'm over the mindset that when you make a deal, you make a deal. It may not be the deal you thought you made at the beginning, but it's still the deal you decided on," managing partner of Gardner, a Salt Lake-based developer, Dave Wali said. "If I feel like there's an opportunity for the state to re trade the deal, why would I spend the money and energy to go make the bid?"
Wali did not bid on the State Street property; however, the state's ability to repeal the deal creates concern.
"I think [the state] got a very fair price out of it," Wali said. "I wouldn't expect it [repealing the sale] from any state."
The ITD budget passed the House by a single vote. Dissenting lawmakers shared Wali's perspective on the state's integrity as a business partner.
"This feels really, really dangerous to me," Rep. Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) said. "Private actors invest really substantial resources and energy and reliance on the notion that we are a reliable contract partner."
Rep. Wendy Horman (R-Idaho Falls) co-chairs the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC). She debated whether retaining the building would result in long-term savings for the state.
Pacific Companies Founder and CEO Caleb Roope released a public statement on the matter echoing the Boise lawmakers concerns:
"As an Idaho company which conducts business across the West, I expect these kinds of problems in other states like California, Washington, and Oregon, where laws are ignored, and business can’t count on government to keep its word. We don’t expect to see this in Idaho. Upon being awarded this project months ago we believed we had a deal. We are excited to invest in Idaho, as we have many times before however, to see the Idaho Legislature show the same big-government overreach is sad and disappointing. We don’t do business in Idaho this way and expect better from our government partners.”
After JFAC approves a new budget, with no guarantees of changing the 'no sale' clause, the legislation must start back in the House and pass both chambers before reaching the governor's desk.
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