Bill Description: House Bill 517 would repeal the chapter of Idaho code that entered the state into the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) cooperative agreement.
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Does it create, expand, or enlarge any agency, board, program, function, or activity of government? Conversely, does it eliminate or curtail the size or scope of government?
House Bill 517 would repeal Chapter 78, Title 67, Idaho Code, which entered the state into the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) cooperative agreement.
According to its website, “The Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) is a statutory public/private nonprofit created in 1991 by the U.S. states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Washington and the Canadian provinces and territories of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Yukon.”
The bill’s fiscal note says the repeal “will save the legislative branch $60,000.” This is likely an annual savings that comes from removing the state’s obligation to pay membership dues.
Ending the state’s participation in various associations and cooperative agreements like this can help curtail the scope of government and reduce its meddling in the market.
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Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?
Article 1, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution says, “No State shall, without the Consent of Congress … enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power.” Cooperative agreements like PNWER (which involve both other states and foreign powers) violate at least the spirit if not the letter of the Constitution, and our exit from this agreement would bring us into conformity with constitutional principles.
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