Bill Description: Senate Bill 1012 would create the Idaho depredating wildlife appeals board to provide recourse for individuals following an inconclusive federal determination regarding depredation.
Rating: 0
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?
Senate Bill 1012 would create Chapter 55, Title 22, Idaho Code, and make other related code changes to establish the Idaho depredating wildlife appeals board in the office of the governor. This 3-member board would include the directors of the Idaho state department of agriculture and the Idaho department of fish and game or their designees, as well as a large-animal veterinarian appointed by the governor.
The board would hear appeals from individuals who experienced depredation from wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, and/or mountain lions, and were denied their claim by a federal investigator.
The board's ruling would supersede the federal investigator's determination and be used both for determining compensation and for calculating the state's official counts of depredation incidents.
This bill would increase the scope of state government by creating a new board.
(-1)
Does it violate the principles of federalism by increasing federal authority, yielding to federal blandishments, or incorporating changeable federal laws into Idaho statutes or rules? Examples include citing federal code without noting as it is written on a certain date, using state resources to enforce federal law, and refusing to support and uphold the tenth amendment. conversely, does it restore or uphold the principles of federalism?
Current law gives a federal investigator with APHIS-Wildlife Services the final say in determining if an incident of depredation is considered confirmed, probable, possible, or unknown. Senate Bill 1012 would shift the balance of power to the state, giving the state authority to review and, if necessary, overrule an inappropriate or inconclusive federal determination.
(+1)
