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Governor gives 2012 Legislature 'solid A'

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter
The Idaho Legislature concluded its work on Thursday, March 29. A total of 342 pieces of legislation reached my desk. As of the writing of this newsletter, I am still reviewing action on four of them. I want to thank the members of the Legislature for their hard work and dedication as public servants. I also am thankful that the Legislature and I agreed on the overwhelming majority of my legislative agenda.

In 81 days, we passed legislation aimed at improving our economy, providing Idahoans with tax relief, replenishing our rainy day funds, and fully funding the growth in schools and institutions of higher learning while at the same time providing the funding necessary for the technology and pay-for-performance elements of "Students Come First" - our important package of public school reforms enacted by the Legislature in 2011.

We established a framework and appropriated funding for the Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission - IGEM - which brings the collective genius of our private sector, our research centers and universities together in a collaborative effort to create and commercialize new technologies to help grow our economy. I am tremendously excited about its potential, which is why I've called it a "down-payment on Idaho's future."

We also began replenishing our depleted state reserve funds. I consider these "rainy day funds" - and the way we were able to carefully steward these resources - as a key to our ability to weather the severe economic downturn that pushed many other states to the brink of insolvency.

In Idaho, we resisted the temptation and the emotional arguments from some to spend down all of these accounts at the first sign of economic trouble back in 2008. As a result, we preserved vital services through three years of trying economic times without asking taxpayers to shoulder a bigger financial burden. Now that we're beginning to see our economy improve, it's only appropriate that we begin replenishing those funds. This year we may be able to put almost $80 million into the various rainy day and budget stabilization funds, which will provide a great start to fiscal year 2013.

We reduced both the state income tax rate for individuals - including many small businesses - and the corporate income tax rate so we can be more competitive, attract more businesses, and sustain the ones we already have. We also agreed to continue incrementally increasing the grocery tax credit to provide another $15.5 million in sales tax relief for Idaho families. That might seem modest, but compare what we're doing in Idaho to what many other states are experiencing - higher taxes and more severe cuts in state services. Instead, we've lived within our means, and worked to make sure our taxpayers can keep more of their hard-earned money. All in all, it was a great legislative session. I give it a solid "A."