Idaho lags neighboring Utah in legislative activity this session

BOISE – The Idaho Legislature is on track to set a new productivity low this session, but its neighbor to the south finished on a high note.

As of Friday morning, Idaho lawmakers have introduced 416 bills since the session began Jan. 12, plus another 45 resolutions.

That’s the fewest bill introductions by this stage of a session since at least 2010. Compared to the past five years, it’s about 7 percent below average.

Contrast that with the Utah Legislature, which began its 2015 session two weeks later than Idaho and adjourned Thursday, having approved 528 bills.

Besides making major reforms in the state’s criminal justice system, Utah lawmakers also adopted historic anti-discrimination protections for gays and lesbians and approved a transportation funding bill.

The transportation measure includes a 5-cent fuel tax hike for 2016 – the first increase in 18 years – plus a 1-cent annual increase the following four years. It imposes a 12-percent wholesale fuel tax as well, offering some protection against inflation, which erodes any fixed fuel tax over time.

Utah lawmakers also gave cities and counties local option sales tax authority, so municipalities can ask local voters to approve a small sales tax increase to pay for local highway and bridge projects.

Supporters in Utah said the additional funding was needed to address an estimated $11.4 billion shortfall in maintenance and capacity needs by 2040. Idaho’s shortfall, by comparison, exceeds $13.5 billion; half is for highway and bridge maintenance, and the rest is for safety and capacity upgrades.

The Utah Legislature is slightly more Republican than Idaho’s. It has 87 Republicans and 17 Democrats, compared to 84 Republicans and 21 Democrats in Idaho.

Utah lawmakers this year also agreed to bring back firing squads as an authorized form of capital punishment. Idaho hasn’t done that – but it won’t adjourn for at least another few weeks.