The Idaho Grain Producers Association plans to make improving the state’s roads, bridges, and short-line railroads a lobbying priority again during the 2020 Legislature despite an expected tight state budget.
Transportation funding is always high on IGPA’s legislative agenda, and for years the association has advocated for more spending on road and bridge repairs, though it has stopped short of supporting raising taxes to do so.
The legislature in 2015 raised vehicle registration fees and the state’s per-gallon fuel tax, which is helped by population growth but hurt by continued gains in car and truck efficiency. Lawmakers also passed a law directing a portion of state budget surpluses to transportation. However, that law expired and was not renewed in 2019, so it’s possible the legislature will take it up next year.
A proposed tax credit for investment in short-line railroad improvements failed in the past two legislative sessions, but is likely to return in some form in 2020. While a tax credit would be tough to pass amid tight budgets, IGPA says a carve-out from an existing program, or a pilot project, are possible alternatives.
Lawmakers on the budget-setting Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee say Idaho’s estimated surplus for all of fiscal 2020 has dropped since the Legislature adjourned last spring, and lawmakers likely will be conservative with appropriations for fiscal 2021.
Meanwhile, grain growers will support an expected measure allowing hemp production in the state, per the 2018 federal Farm Bill. A similar effort failed during the 2019 session.
Next year’s legislative session starts January 6th. (Capital Press)
