2007 Legislation
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SENATE BILL NO. 1044 – Legislative interns, hiring

SENATE BILL NO. 1044

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S1044..........................................................by SCHROEDER
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - Amends existing law relating to the Legislative
Council; to provide for the hiring and compensation of legislative interns.
                                                                        
01/19    Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/22    Rpt prt - to St Aff

Bill Text


                                                                        
                                                                        
  ]]]]              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ]]]]
 Fifty-ninth Legislature                   First Regular Session - 2007
                                                                        
                                                                        
                                       IN THE SENATE
                                                                        
                                    SENATE BILL NO. 1044
                                                                        
                                        BY SCHROEDER
                                                                        
  1                                        AN ACT
  2    RELATING TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL; AMENDING SECTION 67-429, IDAHO  CODE,  TO
  3        PROVIDE  FOR  THE  HIRING  AND  COMPENSATION OF LEGISLATIVE INTERNS AND TO
  4        DELETE OBSOLETE LANGUAGE.
                                                                        
  5    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
                                                                        
  6        SECTION 1.  That Section 67-429, Idaho Code, be, and the  same  is  hereby
  7    amended to read as follows:
                                                                        
  8        67-429.  POWERS  AND  DUTIES.  (1)  It shall be the duty of the council to
  9    collect and compile information, to draft bills and to conduct  research  upon
 10    any  subject which the legislature may authorize or direct or upon any subject
 11    which it may determine, provided that all activities of the  council  must  be
 12    reasonably related to a legislative purpose. The legislature may make specific
 13    assignments to the council by a concurrent resolution approved by both houses.
 14        (2)  The  council  may hold public hearings and it may authorize or direct
 15    any of its committees to hold public hearings on any matters within the juris-
 16    diction of the council.
 17        (3)  The council shall establish  and  maintain  a  legislative  reference
 18    library.
 19        (4)  For  the  purpose  of conducting any study within the jurisdiction of
 20    the council, by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3)
 21    of the entire membership of the council, the chairman of the council may  sub-
 22    poena  witnesses,  compel their attendance, take evidence and require the pro-
 23    duction of any books, papers, correspondence or  other  documents  or  records
 24    which  the council deems relevant or material to any matter on which the coun-
 25    cil or any committee is conducting a study.
 26        (5)  It shall be the duty of the council to superintend and administer the
 27    legislative space in the capitol building at all times, and  to  prepare  such
 28    space  when  required for the sessions of the legislature, which shall include
 29    the provision of furniture and equipment.
 30        (6)  The legislative council shall review and make recommendations to  the
 31    administrator  of  the division of human resources on all aspects of the state
 32    personnel system, including policies, wages and salaries.
 33        (7)  The council has authority to appoint committees  and  hire  staff  or
 34    contract for services to implement the provisions of this section. In addition
 35    to the duties provided above, the council has authority to:
 36        (a)  Provide  the  legislature  with  research and analysis of current and
 37        projected state revenue, state expenditure and state tax expenditures;
 38        (b)  Provide the legislature with a report analyzing the  governor's  pro-
 39        posed levels of revenue and expenditures for budgets and supplemental bud-
 40        get requests submitted to the legislature;
 41        (c)  Provide  an analysis of the impact of the governor's proposed revenue
 42        and expenditure plans for the next fiscal year;
 43        (d)  Conduct research on matters of economic and fiscal policy and  report
                                                                        
                                       2
                                                                        
  1        to the legislature on the result of the research;
  2        (e)  Provide  economic  reports  and  studies  on the state of the state's
  3        economy including trends and forecasts for consideration by  the  legisla-
  4        ture;
  5        (f)  Conduct budget and tax studies and provide general fiscal and budget-
  6        ary information;
  7        (g)  Review and make recommendations on the operation of state programs in
  8        order  to appraise the implementation of state laws regarding the expendi-
  9        ture of funds and to recommend means of improving their efficiency;
 10        (h)  Recommend to the legislature changes in the mix  of  revenue  sources
 11        for  programs,  in  the  percentage of state expenditures devoted to major
 12        programs, and in the role of the legislature in overseeing  state  govern-
 13        ment expenditures and revenue projections;
 14        (i)  Make  a  continuing  study and investigation of the building needs of
 15        the government of the state of Idaho, including, but not limited  to,  the
 16        following:   the  current  and  future  requirements of new buildings, the
 17        maintenance of existing buildings, rehabilitating and  remodeling  of  old
 18        buildings, the planning of administrative offices, and exploring the meth-
 19        ods of financing building and related costs; and
 20        (j)  Conduct  a  study of state-local finance, analyzing and making recom-
 21        mendations to the legislature on issues including levels of state  support
 22        for  political subdivisions, basic levels of local need, balances of local
 23        revenues and options, relationship of local taxes to individuals'  ability
 24        to pay and financial reporting by political subdivisions; and
 25        (k)  Hire  and  assign responsibilities to not more than ten (10) legisla-
 26        tive interns for each legislative session and compensate each such  legis-
 27        lative intern at a rate not greater than one thousand five hundred dollars
 28        ($1,500) per legislative session.
 29        (8)  In  performing  its  duties under subsection (7) of this section, the
 30    council and its employees may consider, among other things:
 31        (a)  The relative dependence on state tax revenues, federal funds and user
 32        fees to support state-funded programs, and whether  the  existing  mix  of
 33        revenue sources is appropriate given the purpose of the programs;
 34        (b)  The  relative  percentages  of state expenditures that are devoted to
 35        major programs such as education, assistance to local government,  aid  to
 36        individuals, state agencies and institutions and debt service; and
 37        (c)  The  role  of the legislature in overseeing state government expendi-
 38        tures, including legislative  appropriation  of  money  from  the  general
 39        account, legislative appropriation of money from funds other than the gen-
 40        eral account, state agency receipt of money into revolving and other dedi-
 41        cated  funds  and  expenditure  of money from these funds and state agency
 42        expenditure of federal funds.
 43        (9)  The council's recommendations shall consider the long-term  needs  of
 44    the  state.  The recommendations must not duplicate work done by standing com-
 45    mittees of the senate and house of representatives.
 46        (10) The council may, after consultation with the governor  and  with  the
 47    chairs  of  the  standing  committees  of the legislature, select mandates and
 48    state programs for review. When selecting mandates, state aids or  state  pro-
 49    grams  to be reviewed, the council may consider those that involve payments to
 50    local units of government. Staff from affected agencies, staff from the  divi-
 51    sion  of  financial  management and legislative staff shall participate in the
 52    reviews.
 53        (11) The following  state  aids  and  associated  state  mandates  may  be
 54    reviewed:
 55        (a)  Local  government aid, ad valorem property tax credits, tax increment
                                                                        
                                       3
                                                                        
  1        financing and fiscal disparities;
  2        (b)  Human service aids;
  3        (c)  Educational support dollars  utilized  for  school  district  general
  4        fund  aids, school district capital expenditure fund aids, and school dis-
  5        trict debt service fund aids;
  6        (d)  General government aids including natural resource aids,  environmen-
  7        tal  protection  aids,  transportation aids, economic development aids and
  8        general infrastructure aids.
  9        (12) At the direction of the council, the reviews of state aids and  state
 10    mandates  involving  state  financing of local government activities listed in
 11    subsection (11) of this section may include:
 12        (a)  The employment status, wages and  benefits  of  persons  employed  in
 13        administering the programs;
 14        (b)  The desirable applicability of state procedural laws or rules;
 15        (c)  Methods  for  increasing  political  subdivision options in providing
 16        their share, if any, of program costs;
 17        (d)  Desirable redistributions of funding responsibilities for the program
 18        and the time period during  which  any  recommended  funding  distribution
 19        should occur;
 20        (e)  Opportunities for reducing program mandates and giving political sub-
 21        divisions more flexibility in meeting program needs;
 22        (f)  Comparability of treatment of similar units of government;
 23        (g)  The  effect  of  the  state aid or mandate on the distribution of tax
 24        burdens among individuals based upon ability to pay;
 25        (h)  Coordination of the payment or allocation formula  with  other  state
 26        aid programs;
 27        (i)  Incentives  that  have been created for local spending decisions, and
 28        whether the incentives should be changed;
 29        (j)  Ways in which political  subdivisions  have  changed  their  revenue-
 30        raising behavior since receiving these grants;
 31        (k)  An  assessment  of the accountability of all government agencies that
 32        participate in the administration of the program.
 33        (13) The legislative council may provide for a complete audit of  any  and
 34    every fund in the state treasury and other state moneys at least once in every
 35    two (2) fiscal years, and commencing for fiscal year 1995 and each year there-
 36    after  shall  provide for an annual statewide financial audit of the statewide
 37    annual financial report prepared by the state controller, and is hereby autho-
 38    rized:
 39        (a)  To supervise and examine the accounts and expenditures of the several
 40        departments and public institutions of the state and  to  prescribe  rules
 41        necessary  to  assure  the adequacy and timeliness of all audits performed
 42        for or on behalf of all political subdivisions thereof;
 43        (b)  To inspect securities held by  the  several  departments  and  public
 44        institutions of the state and the political subdivisions thereof;
 45        (c)  To  examine, at any and all times, the accounts of every private cor-
 46        poration, institution, association, or board receiving appropriations from
 47        the legislature or contracting for health and welfare  services  with  the
 48        state of Idaho;
 49        (d)  To  demand  and  receive reports from the state treasurer, state con-
 50        troller, director of the department of finance, and any other  officer  or
 51        agency, and from the several state depositories;
 52        (e)  To  publish,  from  time  to time, for the information of the several
 53        departments and of the general public, bulletins of the works  of  govern-
 54        ment;
 55        (f)  To  be  the  official depository of all audits of the several depart-
                                                                        
                                       4
                                                                        
  1        ments and public institutions of the state and its political subdivisions;
  2        the filing of an audit with the  official  depository  shall  satisfy  all
  3        requirements  for  the filing of an audit with the state, any other provi-
  4        sion of law notwithstanding;
  5        (g)  To review or have reviewed the work  papers  or  other  documentation
  6        utilized  in  the audit of a state department or public institution of the
  7        state and its political subdivisions, and to  reject  for  filing  in  the
  8        official  depository  any  report based upon unsatisfactory work papers or
  9        inadequately supported documentation;
 10        (h)  To review and approve the terms and conditions or other statement  of
 11        services  to  be  provided  on any or all contracts or agreements by state
 12        government agencies for audits or audit type services; and
 13        (i)  To report to the attorney general, for such action, civil  or  crimi-
 14        nal, as the attorney general may deem necessary, all facts showing illegal
 15        expenditure of the public money or misappropriation of the public money or
 16        misappropriation  of the public property.  The governor and state control-
 17        ler shall also be notified when the report is made to the attorney general
 18        pursuant to this subsection.
 19        All reports, findings and audits of the legislative  council  pursuant  to
 20    this subsection shall be submitted to the legislature and to the governor.

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact


                       STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

                            RS 16752
                                
                                
The purpose of this legislation is to provide not more than 10 scholarships 
for legislative interns of up to $1500/legislative session. The program shall 
be administered through the Legislative Council.

It is difficult for college students to be legislative interns because of 
living costs while in Boise. The legislation will help provide opportunities 
for individuals to have the experience of working with the legislature.




                          FISCAL IMPACT
                                
A maximum of $15,000 annually plus some small administrative costs.





Contact:

Senator Gary J. Schroeder
332-1324
                                                                    S 1044