BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Gov. Brad Little predicted Wednesday that the property tax freeze bill that’s now pending in the House will never reach his desk, according to the Idaho Press.
That bill, from House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, “was moved to get everybody at the table and to have the discussion,” Little told reporters. “The Legislature, a lot of ’em recognize that that’s not necessarily a problem everywhere. It’s a problem in areas where there’s explosive residential growth,” he said. “I think having the discussion is good. This goes back to my teacher pay issue: A lot of those property tax issues are because of all the supplemental levies being passed.”
The bill, which is strongly opposed by local government officials in Idaho, would freeze the property tax portion of city, county and other local government budgets for a year. Officials told a House committee at a hearing that the move wouldn’t actually grant relief to homeowners, but would severely crimp services in fast-growing Idaho cities and in rural counties with pressing needs. It is currently scheduled for a debate and vote in the House as soon as this week.
Little, who gave his annual address to the Idaho Press Club on Wednesday and answered questions from reporters, said, “There are taxing districts where, whether it’s the commissioners or the city or whoever it is, have been very, very frugal about what they’ve done, and all of a sudden we’ve got a growth in economic activity. Why would you penalize them, that were conservative all along?”
“I remember the 1 Percent (Initiative) and what happened as a result of the 1 Percent,” the governor said. “We had a proliferation of taxing districts.”
The Idaho One Percent Property Tax Initiative passed in 1996; it was patterned after California’s property tax-limiting Proposition 13, but that state’s approach violated the Idaho Constitution, which requires like property to be taxed alike. Idaho lawmakers reacted by imposing budget caps on local governments.
“So you’ve got ambulance districts and you’ve got recreation districts and you’ve got sewer districts, because the city was capped,” Little said. “And when you do these things … you need to look at the unintended consequences of what will happen. Do we really want more taxing districts?”
When Little was asked if he’d sign the tax freeze bill if it came to his desk, he responded, “I’d have to see it,” but added, “I do not believe that option will be available to me.”
Here are some of the other topics the governor addressed:
TEACHER PAY
“Today’s a big day for our administration,” Little told the Idaho Press Club on Wednesday morning. “Our career ladder bill is up in the House.”
Just an hour after he spoke, the House Education Committee agreed, on a unanimous voice vote, to introduce the teacher career ladder bill, according to Idaho Education News. The bill lays out a five-year plan for teacher pay increases, with a focus on creating a new advanced professional rung on the ladder for the most experienced teachers. The cost next year, in fiscal year 2021, is $30 million, matching the governor’s budget proposal for next year; over the five years, the total fiscal impact is $225.3 million.
Teacher pay has been “a constant theme of mine” since he was elected governor a little over a year ago, Little said. “We have to be competitive on teacher pay.”
That lines up with the recommendations of his education improvement task force, he noted. “But it also has a nexus to property taxes. … A lot of the supplemental levies, particularly in border communities, are to be competitive on teacher pay, particularly veteran teachers, and that’s what that bill does.”
Little said this proposal focuses on veteran teachers after he first zeroed in on starting teacher pay; Idaho is in the second year of phasing the $40,000 starting teacher salary that Little championed last year.
“You just have to be careful that you don’t create some gaps in the group and cause unfair compression,” the governor noted.
SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL LEARNING
Little says he’s sticking with his proposal for a $1 million expenditure in the public school budget next year to address social/emotional learning issues, for training to help teachers identify and address students facing risks that affect them in the classroom, including depression and considering suicide. His comments came after the House Education Committee earlier derided the proposal, with one member saying that back in the day when kids had “respect” they could just be taken behind the woodshed, another saying such issues should be addressed in the home, and three members walking out during a presentation.
“I think they were really not necessarily talking about what that million-dollar line item was about, they were talking about it from a different angle,” Little said. Asked if he thinks there was a lack of understanding, Little said forcefully, “Yes.” He added, “But I think we’ll get there.”
“I’ve talked about it, it’s part of the task force recommendations, I can tell you the (state schools) superintendent (Sherri Ybarra), it’s very important to her,” he said. “The challenges that our students have are almost incredible compared to what they were not that many years ago.”
“That million dollars is just training and help for those teachers in the classroom that are having some of these problems to where we can get ahead of the problem, which I think is the right thing to do,” Little told the Idaho Press Club. “This is not a unique-in-Idaho issue. This is being addressed by everybody. And of course I’ve got a dual motivation. A, No. 1, it’s the right thing to do. But B, my corrections challenges, a lot of those are mental health/substance abuse, and if I can work on it in the schools, I can lessen the demand for services in corrections. … That’s a big issue for me.”
TRANSGENDER BILLS
Little was asked about several bills regarding people who are transgender that are pending in the Idaho Legislature, including some that would conflict with federal court rulings, such as a proposal on birth certificate changes. “I have not seen them,” Little said. “I’m not a big discrimination guy. … Obviously, we have to comply with constitutional challenges.”
He said he hasn’t “seen the analysis” about the current bills. “I think I said this a couple days ago,” Little said, “some of these are a reaction to things that are happening in other states that might not be quite that applicable here in Idaho. But I haven’t seen the details of it.”
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