Will the Idaho House Yield to Gov. Otter's Threat? Senate Oks a 6-Cent Gas Tax Increase After the Governor's Vetoes

Will the Idaho House yield to Gov. Otter's threat? Senate OKs a 6-cent gas tax increase after the governor's vetoes. Its fate in the other chamber is uncertain. Idaho Statesman, April 21, 2009 BY: BRIAN MURPHY Wielding his veto stamp and strong language, Gov. Butch Otter made it clear that he will keep the Idaho Legislature in session as long as it takes to get more money to maintain roads and bridges. It is now up to the House, having voted five times this session against a higher gas tax, to decide whether to go along with Otter and the Senate, defy them, or reach for middle ground. Eight hours after Otter first started vetoing bills, the Senate voted late Monday to raise more than $70 million for a highway maintenance, preservation and restoration accountthrough increased Department of Motor Vehicle fees, higher fuel taxes and the removal of the 2.5-cent-a-gallon gas- tax exemption for ethanol. The proposal would increase the gas tax from 25 cents per gallon to 28 cents on July 1 and 31 cents on July 1, 2010. The higher DMV fees mean a driver's license or a title would cost $14 instead of $8. "If we don't do this now, it will cost you and your children and your grandchildren a lot more," said Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, the Senate Transportation Committee chairman and a strong proponent of the governor's plan. Otter's chief of staff said, "This bill is the one." Joe Jaszewski / Idaho Statesman Gov. Butch Otter called a news conference Monday to veto two bills in an effort to prod lawmakers into approving money for roads. Legislators shrugged it off and he vetoed eight more bills later in the day. So far, House Republican leaders have said it isn't. Before Monday's vote, they warned against tacking amendments onto the ethanol-exemption bill, which the House had passed earlier. But that's just what the Senate did. "It makes it harder," said Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, the majority caucus chairman. House members are "kind of worn out on the issue. É They're tired of voting on the gas tax bill and want to go home." The bill passed 21-14 with all seven Democrats and seven of the more conservative Republican senators (Steve Bair, Blackfoot; Russ Fulcher, Meridian; Shirley McKague, Meridian; Dean Mortimer, Idaho Falls; Monty Pearce, New Plymouth; Jeff Siddoway, Terreton; and Melinda Smyser, Parma) voting against it. Many opponents said the Idaho Transportation Department is awash in cash. In addition to more than $180 million in one-shot federal economic-stimulus money, the ITD is already getting $82 million in bonding authority for its Connecting Idaho projects and $508 million in its fiscal 2010 budget, an increase of $15 million from last year. "When you consider that and combine that with the fact that this is the worst economic cycle of my lifetime, that tells me that now is not the time to do a tax increase," Fulcher said. Neither the governor's staff nor senators were willing to predict how the House would react. With Otter's vetoes and threats of more to come, the House is backed into a corner. "If we can change a couple more people, I think that we can get some success," said Jason Kreizenbeck, Otter's chief of staff. The House is likely to take up the measure Tuesday, this session's 100th day. If it fails to pass, the House and Senate could go to a conference committee to forge a compromise - and possibly an end to the second-longest session in Idaho history. The Senate vote capped a busy day that began with Otter vetoing two relatively minor bills - one on personal information disclosure and the Parents As Teachers Family Support Act - during a showy press conference in his office. At the time, Otter threatened to veto eight appropriations bills if the Legislature did not deliver transportation funding by Thursday night. But his action met with a giant shrug at the Capitol Annex. So less than four hours later, Otter vetoed the eight appropriations bills. Otter has said Idaho faces a $240 million yearly shortfall in road revenues. He started the legislative session in January proposing six bills to raise $174 million a year, and later whittled the package down to $119 million. The vetoes echoed former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's vetoes of several bills in 2005 when he wanted a reluctant Legislature to pass his Connecting Idaho program. .

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