Bill Description: Senate Bill 1133 would impose new limits on agricultural protection areas and require the state to establish agricultural protection area funds to subsidize landowners who designate their property as agricultural protection areas.
Rating: -2
NOTE: Senate Bill 1133 is related to House Bill 233, introduced earlier this session. Both bills deal with agricultural protection areas, which were created by House Bill 608, introduced in 2024.
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 1133 makes a number of changes to Chapter 97, Title 67, Idaho Code, which is the "Agricultural Protection Area Act."
While some of these changes are minor, one notable change imposes a rather significant limit on the use of land within an agricultural protection area.
Currently, Section 67-9713(4), Idaho Code, says, "Nothing in this section shall prevent a board of county commissioners from regulating … the siting of residential, commercial, manufacturing, industrial, solar energy, or wind energy structures; or other nonagricultural land uses on lands included within an agricultural protection area."
The bill would replace that language with the following: "The siting of residential, commercial, manufacturing, industrial, solar or wind energy structures, or any other non-agricultural land use on lands included within an agricultural protection area shall be prohibited unless such uses are also contributing to agricultural production. Such non-agricultural uses are subject to applicable county planning and zoning ordinances and building codes."
While both current law and this bill allow government to regulate the various named facilities, current law gives this authority to the board of county commissioners, which has broad authority to allow these facilities. The language in the bill, however, prohibits such facilities unless they are "contributing to agricultural production" and even then, they must comply with all "applicable county planning and zoning ordinances and building codes."
This change reduces the potential use of the land within an agricultural protection area.
(-1)
Senate Bill 1133 would create Section 67-9713, Idaho Code, to say, "Upon receipt of an initial voluntary contribution, the respective soil and water conservation district shall establish an agricultural protection area fund."
These funds would accept "voluntary contributions from public and private entities." While the idea of a voluntary contribution sounds good, when a "public" (i.e., government) entity provides a "voluntary contribution" to another government entity, the money being transferred still comes from taxes, fees, or assessments of one kind or another.
The bill says 95% of the money in these agricultural protection area funds shall be distributed to "landowners with approved agricultural protection areas" on a "per-acre basis." The other 5% of the money will be used for " administrative costs of the fund and to promote agriculture and soil and water conservation within the state."
None of this is the proper role of government. The government should not establish funds or seek contributions to subsidize anyone or promote anything.
(-1)
