Bill Description: House Bill 87 would establish that if local governments receive more than $80 million from state sales tax revenue for their transportation budgets, there would be restrictions on how they could use the funds.
Rating: +1
Does it increase government spending (for objectionable purposes) or debt? Conversely, does it decrease government spending or debt?
House Bill 87 would amend Section 40-720, Idaho Code, regarding the Transportation Expansion and Congestion Mitigation Program to say, "Moneys in excess of eighty million dollars ($80,000,000) apportioned to local units of government for local highway projects pursuant to section 63-3638(16)(b), Idaho Code, shall be used by local units of government only for the purposes of road and bridge maintenance, the expansion of travel lanes, and congestion mitigation for the primary benefit of motor vehicles to improve traffic flow and traffic travel times."
Section 63-3638(16)(b), Idaho Code, referenced in this new language, clarifies how sales tax revenue is distributed to the Transportation Expansion and Congestion Mitigation Program. This statute says the program gets 4.5% of state sales tax revenue "but not less than eighty million dollars," so House Bill 87 would only apply when 4.5% of state sales tax revenue exceeds $80 million — and only to the portion of the revenue that exceeds $80 million.
House Bill 87 appears to be a replacement for House Bill 49, which says, "any moneys funding the transportation expansion and congestion mitigation program shall be limited to road and bridge maintenance, the expansion of travel lanes, and congestion mitigation for the primary benefit of motor vehicles to improve traffic flow and traffic travel times."
It is appropriate to prevent government from spending money on transportation projects that do not primarily serve the purpose of improving traffic flow and mitigating congestion. But applying this restriction only to moneys in excess of $80 million makes this limit less useful than the one House Bill 49 would bring about.
(+1)
