LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW: A committee to 'listen to all sides'

This is the final installment in a nine-part collaborative series by the Lewiston Tribune, Idaho Falls Post Register and Idaho Statesman examining the role and function of committee chairmen in the Idaho Legislature.

Rep. Lynn Luker takes the helm of the House Local Government committee this year as no stranger to the committee's work on legislation sought by or on behalf of Idaho municipalities. This includes activity involving highway, fire and urban renewal districts.

In the category of urban renewal alone, there are more than 60 districts across the state, Luke said, and legislative issues involving them are "always a wild card."

Communities use urban renewal districts to leverage property taxes in support of local economic development projects in targeted areas. In Boise, for instance, the Capital City Development Corp. has four urban renewal areas, including the newly created 30th Street district. Boise urban renewal projects include The Grove Plaza, BoDo and the Basque Block, among others.

Urban renewal agencies give some lawmakers heartburn because the agencies can issue bonds and take on debt without voter approval and the agencies keep property tax money generated by new development, leaving others to pick up the costs of fire, police and other services that new development demands.

Proponents say the urban renewal areas are a valuable economic development tool and cities, counties and the state ultimately benefit from the new development - and urban renewal spending - through increased sales and income taxes.

Bills have surfaced in recent years to restrict their powers or do away with them entirely. In 2011, two successful bills put modest limits on some urban renewal district authorities.

"I don't think we've had a session where we haven't had some urban renewal discussion," Luker said. "It's not a wild card in the sense that it's going to be a new issue, but in terms of what might show up in those bills."

The committee "has been pretty focused on urban renewal around the state," said Hy Kloc, D-Boise, a committee member. "With Lynn becoming the new chair, we might be looking at other kinds of local government issues."

Proposals to grant local option taxing authority might come before Local Government this session. A local option sales tax might allow cities, for instance, to raise money for a bus or rail system, but legislators have been opposed to permitting a new avenue of taxation.

Luker has reservations about them "because of the patchwork it creates in commerce."

When legislative leaders met last week with reporters, their comments highlighted the general legislative view of local option taxing authority.

"Don't hold your breath on that," said House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley.

"We talk about local control, but we have a hard time giving it," said Brent Hill, the Rexburg Republican who leads the Senate.

Easing requirements for public borrowing is another possible subject that might come before the committee this year.

"That's the whole purpose of having a committee, so that you have a hearing and everybody can come in and share the pros and cons of what is going on in the proposal," Luker said. "A lot of people talk about the general idea of an option tax, urban renewal, but it's really the details that are critical. That's where the committee can listen to all sides."

Luker sees his committee as a forum to balance the sometimes competing interests of municipalities between, for example, rural and urban areas.

"We've had issues about school bus funding and that kind of thing where you do one thing and it affects the rural and city districts differently," Luker said. "So I do see the committee as a potential bridge for some of those issues. If there's a competing item or if there's an idea with an objection, as chairman I can get people in the chairman's office and say, 'Hey, what can we do to solve this.' "

Luker also has chaired the House Ethics Committee and worked on a task force looking at the public defender system in Idaho. He is better known, however, for introducing last year a controversial "religious freedom" bill that would have permitted businesses to discriminate against gays based on religious beliefs. In response to criticism, Luker withdrew the bill and was revising it when House Speaker Scott Bedke suggested a "thoughtful pause" on the matter.

Luker said that pause will continue at least through this session.

"It was a very simple bill and it was used as a sawhorse for people who had other interests," Luker said. "Certainly there continues to be concern on the part of those who have religious expression issues if that discussion comes up. As far as a separate bill or anything, I don't have that this year."