Jeff Stratten, spokesman for the Idaho Transportation Department, told IdahoReporter.com Thursday that the state could lose millions in federal road funding if legislators don’t approve the commercial texting ban in one of the next two legislative sessions.  The provision comes from a rule passed by the Federal Motor Carrier’s Administration in 2009.

But a representative for a Gem State trucking group says the ban is unfair to commercial drivers. Kathy Fowers, director of the Idaho Trucking Association, said that if a texting prohibition is implemented, it should apply to all drivers. “We approve of the law, but it should apply to everyone,” Fowers explained.

Texting bans have struggled when brought before Idaho legislators.  State lawmakers have killed several versions of all-encompassing texting bans in the past two years, with bill critics arguing they are unenforceable.

But this texting ban comes with purse strings attached.  Stratten says that if Idaho doesn’t comply with the federal rule by Oct. 27, 2013, it could lose up to 5 percent of its federal highway funding after one full year of non-compliance.  If that comes to pass, it could mean the loss of up to $9 million in federal dollars in fiscal year 2016.

The penalty gets worse in following years. Stratten says that the penalty for non-compliance jumps to 10 percent in following years, and could mean the loss of as much as $18 million annually for the Gem State starting in 2017.

The threat seemingly means nothing to some House lawmakers.  House Transportation Committee Chairman Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, said the threat from the federal government won’t influence his vote on the issue.  “I don’t care,” Palmer said.  “If the law gets through, it’s not going to get there because of threats.”

Palmer said it’s unfair for the federal government to hang revenue over the heads of state officials.  “We collect taxes, send the funds to them, and they say we can’t have the money back unless we do exactly what they say,” Palmer complained. “What a crock of crap that is.”

Former House Transportation Committee chairwoman JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, shares Palmer’s sentiment.  “I don’t take kindly to that kind of treatment,” Wood said.

But is there merit to the legislation? Palmer, Wood, and Fowers have doubts.

Palmer said that while he believes all drivers shouldn’t text while driving, he isn’t sure a law is needed to fix the problem. “I don’t like the idea of making a law every time there’s a problem in society,” Palmer explained, adding that commercial drivers might even be more capable than average Idaho residents because of higher training.

Wood says the elements that crippled prior texting bans might prevent this one from gaining traction. “I don’t know how they are going to be able to tell if a commercial driver is texting,” Wood noted, saying that drivers would likely be on the honor system. “I don’t think state troopers are able to see into the cabs of big tractor-trailers.”

Fowers says the market is actually self-regulating in order to prevent company losses. “These businesses can’t afford for their drivers to be in accidents,” Fowers said, adding that most – if not all – of the carriers in her association already have company policies that prohibit drivers from texting.

The federal rule also mandates how states must classify texting penalties for commercial drivers. If the state chooses to comply with the federal rule, it must classify texting behind the wheel as a “serious violation,” which means that a first instance would put three points on a driver’s record in addition to a fine. A second conviction would result in a 60-day suspension of commercial driving privileges and a third would mean a suspension of 120 days if within a three-year period.

In 2009 Gov. Otter established the Governor’s Task Force on Modernizing Transportation Funding. The task force, chaired by Lt. Gov. Brad Little, had several issues it addressed, including needs for state and local highway systems and metropolitan planning organizations, public transportation, capacity and safety enhancement, user equity, federal funding impacts, and the economic benefits of an improved transportation system.

Over the course of 15 months the task force met to discuss the issues around the state and what it acknowledged to be “Idaho’s significant and growing transportation funding shortfall.”

Throughout those many months testimony was given by national experts, state and local governments, transportation-related organizations, and members of the public. Through surveys it was determined that additional money was needed annually to address four concerns. They were:

- $155 million annually for operation, preservation and restoration of the state system.

- $107 million annually for operation, preservation and restoration of the local system.

- $207 million annually for capacity and safety enhancement for the state system.

- $74 million for capacity and safety enhancement for the local system.

That’s around $400 million in additional funds; that is, funding in excess of the budget normally projected for such projects. In order to generate the revenue needed, Gov. Otter instructed the task force to look for “both traditional and non-traditional sources of revenue for maintenance and preservation of highways and bridges, such as revisions to the rates, methods, and manner of calculating any and all taxes, fees, and registrations relating to fuels, motor vehicles, and motor carriers.”

A variety of options were discussed including increasing sales fuel tax, increased vehicle registration fees, vehicle miles traveled fee, and taxes on alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles.

The report was given to Otter and legislators in December 2010, in advance of the convening of the 2011 Legislature. But none of the funding needs identified by the task force were approved by lawmakers.

Will it be different in 2012? A spokesman for the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) does not think so, plus Gov. Otter does not seem inclined to push for much in the way of budget increases or tax hikes.

According to Jeff Stratten from ITD, the needs will probably have to wait until economic times have improved. “The task force recommended consideration of a number of revenue enhancement options to address the problem. However, the members also suggested a waiting period before doing this, to allow the economy to recover. Some members expressed concern that this could have an additional, negative impact on our economy because the problem will only get worse and be more costly to solve. At this time, ITD is unaware of any transportation revenue enhancement proposal for 2012,” said Stratten.

Gov. Otter, in a recent comment on how he will approach his budget recommendations to the 2012 Legislature, did not leave much doubt that he is going to error on the side of a conservative budget and no additional taxes. “The future budgets that we’ll have in the state are going to not look an awful lot unlike budgets that we’ve had the last three and a half years,” said the governor. “We’re still going to be conservative. We’re still going to work at institutionalizing a lot of the changes that we made during this economic downturn.”

Otter said he finds it better to lowball rather than be forced to have budget holdbacks mid-year for agencies. “I find it better to … underestimate a little bit in order to make sure when we tell an agency or we tell a program that they have the money, that they can count on that money and they can plan around that money,” he said.

The governor’s task force was composed of the lieutenant governor, 10 state lawmakers, a representative from the business community, a representative from the forest product industry, a county commission, a member of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission and had ex officio (non-voting) representatives from ITD and the ITD board.

In an interview earlier this year with IdahoReporter.com, Lt. Gov. Brad Little explained why the task force recommendations are on hold.

“You’ve got to realize that we’ve got about three different things that are taking place.

“A, there was a lot of federal stimulus money that’s still going through the system. It’s just about gone but that gave us breathing room … the next thing is the GARVEE revenue. And the third thing is … and the governor agrees with me, before we ask users to come up with more money we policy leaders need to assure the public that our system is as efficient as possible. So, that’s taking place as we speak right now. The political reality of it is at a time when we’re making significant cuts to social programs and public education – in essence we didn’t make a very big cut to public education, by the end of June we may have not made any cut at all – but when the governor was putting his (budget) plan together it looked as if that was going to be the case,” said Little in outlining why transportation needs were not a higher priority.

Calls to a number of state legislators serving on the Senate and House transportation committees about their feeling on the task force recommendations, the lack of funding and the future ramifications of not funding the needs were not returned.

But at what cost? Who paid for it, who will be maintaining it? Cost of the landscaping project was slightly more than $580,000 paid for by federal stimulus money, and it will be maintained by the city of Meridian at an annual estimated cost of $45,000.

The Idaho Transportation Department did not implement the landscaping, but hired a company to do so. According to Reed Hollinshead from the Idaho Transportation Department, “The entire $580,281 was from that federal stimulus enhancement bucket. It was money that had to be spent on enhancement projects – it was mandated. … The Ten Mile landscaping project was one of those stimulus enhancement projects.”

Tammy de Weerd, the mayor of Meridian, forwarded information prepared by her Parks and Planning Staff explaining the annual $45,000 cost for maintaining the Ten Mile landscaping.  In an e-mail to IdahoReporter.com, Parks and Planning said, “The Ten Mile Area Specific Plan (TMASP), which was a strategy to enhance Meridian’s prosperity, identified the Ten Mile Interchange area as a primary gateway corridor to the western part of Meridian. This plan had great stakeholder and citizen participation in creating a vision for this important gateway. As part of that plan, landscaped medians were included in the overall vision for the area. This plan had a public process in 2006, which culminated with its adoption by the City Council June of 2007.”

Parks and Planning said the city sent out a request for proposal to collect trash, mow and fertilize the grass areas, prune trees and take care of weed and pest control for the 16-acre project. The low bid, Parks and Planning said, was selected in August, adding that the city felt using a private contractor was the most cost-effective way to handle the maintenance.

Not everyone is in agreement with the cost of the landscaping and the subsequent need to maintain it. Rep. Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, head of the House Transportation Committee, says, “I think it (the interchange) would’ve been fine without the landscaping.”

The Ten Mile project is just one of 387 stimulus projects approved for the state of Idaho. According to recovery.gov, approximately $1.7 billion has been awarded to the state with $1.3 billion actually spent for the period of February 2009 through June 2011.

The costs for the Ten Mile landscaping, broken down into major groupings (costs larger than $10,000):

Concrete sidewalk: 553 square yards, $16,740

Select topsoil: 1,902 cubic yards, $25,681

Planting shrubs: 14 varieties, $51,217

Irrigation system: sprinklers, couplers, valves, underground system, drip system, etc., $229,972

Rock mulch: 3,774 square yards, $25,285

Gasketed non-potable water pipe: various diameter class 200 pipes, $63,586

Solvent weld non-potable pipe: Various diameter class 200 pipes, $57,584

Equipment mobilization: lump sum, $31,000

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) thinks so. Currently ITD maintains and operates three aircraft for the state of Idaho including a 1972 Cessna 182, a 1978 Cessna 206, and a 1979 Beechcraft King Air.

In fiscal year 2010 the three-plane fleet flew a total of 371 hours. The biggest of the three aircraft, the King Air, flew 204 of those hours, or 55 percent of the time. The Cessna 182 flew 103 hours and the Cessna 206 flew for 64 hours.

The King Air, from fiscal year 2008 through 2010, was used by the governor’s office one-third of the total air hours. ITD itself used that plane for 16 percent of the plane’s time in the air.

According to ITD spokesman Jeff Stratten, the flight operation is funded mostly from a state air pool account. “This account receives transfer funds from those state organizations, including other units of the Aeronautics Division itself, which use the aircraft. Organizations are billed for the flight hours expended, crew expenses and crew standby time. Funds transferred to the air pool by users are spent on fuel, maintenance, training and pilot and mechanic time. At times, when especially heavy maintenance is required, the Transportation Department equipment maintenance budget provides funding. This includes things like a major engine overhaul.”

Is it a bargain or cost-effective for the state to own and operate three planes versus, for example, leasing air time from a commercial service?

Stratten said in fiscal year 2010 the overall cost for maintenance, insurance, pilots, fuel, etc., was $401,800. Add in an additional $64,300 per year for the Aeronautics Division offices (the costs are not separated since utilities serve both the hangars for the three aircraft as well as the office for the Aeronautics Division) and the total comes to $466,100.

Rep. Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, is chairman of the House Transportation Committee, which has oversight over ITD and, thus, its three aircraft. He acknowledges that while there is a good argument for the convenience of the state having its own fleet, charter services are something that should be looked at. “They (the state) should be looking into it (chartering flights) and making sure that their prices are at least comparable. I mean it’s definitely an advantage to having your own (plane). You don’t have to call and schedule or anything like that,” said Palmer, who is a pilot.

In 2009 ITD released a report detailing the costs per hour for each of its planes as of May 2008. The total cost of the Cessna 182 was $352 per hour, for the Cessna 206 it was $379 per hour and for the King Air it was $1,053 per hour.

IdahoReporter.com contacted five commercial aircraft services for a breakdown of their rental costs for the three planes. None rent a Cessna 182, citing its lack of passenger space – four people including the pilot – and its limitations on weight in transporting cargo.

While none of the charter services rented a Cessna 182, most have a Cessna 206 with a low rental figure of $365 per hour to a high of $395 per hour. Only one service had access to a King Air with a rate of $1,130 per hour to charter.

Palmer said as committee chairman he will make sure the department provides current cost figures for the three planes, especially the King Air. “I think they should check into it every year and see where they’re at on that (cost figures) and make sure they balance it out … “ The King Air is the plane he thinks might be the best candidate for a charter. The plane did have a higher-than-usual maintenance cost in FY 2009, according to Stratten, due to some engine repairs but the costs fell in FY 2010.

The planes’ value, said Stratten, based on Aircraft Blue Book are $46,000 for the 1972 Cessna 182, $116,000 for the 1978 Cessna 206 and $585,000 for the 1979 King Air. The King Air was a gift to the state in 1997 from the U.S. Army after it was declared a surplus aircraft.

The Cessna 182’s primary mission, said Stratten, “is to search for down or missing aircraft …” The plane is equipped with an aircraft directional finder for such missions. It is the primary plane for “performing airport inspections for the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) under a reimbursement contract.”

The Cessna 206 can carry five passengers, plus oversized cargo. As with the Cessna 182, its chief function is to locate down or missing aircraft, it also has an aircraft directional finder and the plane is “to support the 30 state-operated airstrips, some of which have no road access,” said Stratten. In addition, due to its passenger and load capability, it is used for state government transportation.

The King Air, explained Statten, was transferred from the Army to the state “for the purpose of law enforcement and emergency transportation.” The transfer agreement “provides for such state usage as counter drug, counter terrorism, emergency law enforcement transportation (SWAT team response, emergency transportation, etc.) and allowed other use such as transportation of state employees or elected officials.” Added Statten: “The King Air is the only state plane with all-weather capability. It can operate from approximately 60 airports in the state and can reach most places in the state within one hour.  It has been modified with wing cargo locker to allow the safe carriage of certain hazardous materials such as police munitions including crowd control gases or bio-hazardous materials.” The plane “is also fitted with a special security system for overnight security away from the Division of Aeronautics hangar, since it is occasionally used to transport persons who are potential terrorism targets.”

The Division of Aeronautics has three pilots qualified to fly as captain in the King Air and uses three additional part-time pilots when required. The Cessnas, for non-passenger flights, are flown by either of two Division of Aeronautics pilots.

Stratten said the full-time pilots have a number of other duties “including search coordination for missing aircraft, safety training for other general aviation pilots in the state, aviation education, airport inspection, division management, etc.  The division administrator is one of the pilots as is the safety and training manager (safety and training for pilots outside of the department throughout the state), and the airport inspection technician.”

Currently Idaho has more than 80 novelty license plates motorists may choose from. When souvenir plates are added, there are 99 purchase options. The novelty plates range from Freemasons to winter hobbies (such as snowmobiling and skiing) to Breast Cancer Awareness to the men and women of the armed forces. The armed forces plates account for 43 of the total including recognition of service (World War II, Korea, for examples) for military reservists, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and the Navy.

The number of custom plates, most of which have to be approved by the Idaho Legislature, is an irritant to some lawmakers. The former chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. Leon Smith, R-Twin Falls, said during the 2011 session, “I have a perfect record voting against these things.” Smith and others, including Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, have sworn to vote against every custom plate that comes before the Legislature.

Each plate includes a $35 fee for the first year a driver chooses that custom plate, an amount added to all other vehicle registration costs. Each year a driver chooses to renew the custom plate is an additional $25. The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) highway fund receives $12 a year from the cost of each custom plate.

This year, state lawmakers created a plate that celebrates aviation. Last year, two plates were authorized – one for mountain biking and one for the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in north Idaho.

Colleges and universities, however, are exempt from having their custom plates go through the Legislature. Idaho Code 49-418A explains that the Idaho State Board of Education must approve all school plates.

Two of the three state community colleges, North Idaho College (NIC) in Coeur d’Alene and the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) in Twin Falls, have plates that students, alumni and interested citizens can purchase. College of Western Idaho in Nampa is awaiting approval. The collegiate plates cost an extra $60 in the initial year and an additional $40 each time the car registration is renewed. Those fees are in addition to regular licensing and registrations costs.

NIC says it has received about $350 a year in the past two years from sales of NIC’s custom plate, while CSI says the school takes in an average of $575 annually from its plate.

Larger schools typically benefit more from the program. The University of Idaho, for example, has received $252,608 in plate money since the program’s inception, which has funded scholarships for 270 students.

Fees for some specialty plates are directed to help a cause. For instance, proceeds from the Breast Cancer Awareness plate go toward benefitting health centers where the money is used for “education and screening of women who lack insurance coverage or funds to pay for services related to breast cancer education and screening,” according to the ITD website. Other proceeds, such as those from the National Rifle Association plate, are deposited into the Highway Distribution Account and “made available to state and local jurisdictions through the existing distribution formula.”

The Idaho Elks Rehabilitation program uses proceeds from its plates for its hospital in Boise and to help provide rehabilitative programs and services in specialized areas including pediatrics, brain injury, stroke, hearing and balance, the Wound Clinic, and physical, speech and occupational therapies. The Idaho Historical Preservation plate proceeds are used by the Idaho Historical Society to protect and preserve the state’s heritage and cultural resources.

During the past legislative session, Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d’Alene, said he’d like to limit the proliferation of new license plates and that Idaho shouldn’t be in the business of raising money for private causes. Hammond also said he’s heard from police who have trouble identifying specialty license plates, which usually have a logo on the left side of the plate. “Our law enforcement struggle with the different kinds of plates,” Hammond said. “If they had their way, you would only have one plate.”

Why so many plates? Once a plate has been approved for circulation, it is given a three-year introductory period with no minimum sales requirement. After that plates have a chance to be cancelled if they do not meet minimum requirements, according to spokesman Jeff Stratten of ITD. “After the introductory period if, in any two consecutive years, plate sales are below 1,000 the program is cancelled. There were two programs cancelled July 1 (2011); the Basque Heritage plate and the Technology and Science plate.” In 2009, ITD canceled a plate for the Boy Scouts of America, as well as a motorcycle safety plate.

Inventories of each plate used to be kept until Idaho made the switch to digital flat license plates in 2007, which has kept costs down. Since then, Stratten said, plates are made on an “on-demand” basis. “Orders for specialty plates are taken at the counties and forwarded to ITD in Boise. Correctional Industries prints the plates … The plates are then mailed. Prior to the switch to digital plates, inventories of each specialty plate were kept at the county offices. So, specialty plates are not stocked, but rather digitally printed on demand as ordered. We do stock at Correctional Industries ‘blank’ plates. The inventory is based on projected demand for standard and specialty plates. A plate costs $3, $6 total for the customer since Idaho Code requires you to buy two.”

McKee concluded that “nothing raised in the motions persuades me that I have overlooked or misapplied the evidence offered in this case, overlooked or misapplied the law that applies to this case, or overlooked or misunderstood any of the petitioners’ arguments as advanced previously in their briefs and presentations at hearing.” He added, “I recommend that the motion for reconsideration be denied, and that the Director (ITD director Brian Ness) enter a final order consistent with the findings and conclusions heretofore entered.”

Opponents of the loads have 21 days to appeal his findings and have indicated they intend to file exceptions to his ruling.

Megaloads have garnered attention of late due to a Montana judge’s suspension of some megaloads in Montana. The Montana injunction was granted in response to the plaintiffs’ claim than an original order issued by the state permitting the shipments to exceed the state’s legal dimension limit for transport on two-lane roads was not valid.

Specifically, at issue are the use of oversize permits and utility relocation permits. The issuance of the permits means that construction work must be done on highway turnouts, as well as modification to utility lines and traffic signals because some of the megaloads exceed legal dimensions. The plaintiffs alleged that the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) failed to adequately consider impacts of the project and didn’t consider reasonable alternatives. Plaintiffs also alleged that MDT violated the Montana Environmental Policy Act by not preparing an environmental impact statement.

IdahoReporter.com spoke with Jeff Stratten from the Idaho Transportation Department last week and he said that the ruling in Montana did not affect Idaho. “The ruling from Judge Dayton was specific to Montana state law and the Montana DOT. The ruling is not applicable to Idaho or the issuance of over-legal permits in Idaho. I’m uncertain whether the ruling prevents ExxonMobil from transporting loads across I-90 in Montana as it did last Friday from the Port of Lewiston up U.S. 95 to Coeur d’Alene, then on I-90 to the Montana border, or only on the original proposed route (on U.S. 12 through Idaho and several highways in Montana).”

In 1997 ITD formed the unit after a successful pilot program. The program is funded through registration revenue as well as dollars generated from fuel taxes.

The cost for the program is around $207,000 per year. Costs fall into three major categories:

- The four Incident Response employees account for approximately $130,000 per year.

- The cost of replacing one of the Incident Response vehicles is about $80,000. Each vehicle lasts approximately five years. Since there are two vehicles costing $160,000, divided by five, the cost for the two vehicles per year is $32,000.

- Fuel costs average around $45,000.

Is the program worth the cost? According to Reed Hollinshead with ITD, the program has a value-added component beyond safety and assistance for drivers aided by the units.

A stalled vehicle impeding traffic also has a large economic cost to drivers, says Hollinshead. “Depending on traffic volumes and time of day, it can amount to upwards of $30,000 per half hour in lost work productivity, secondary crashes, increased fuel consumption, increased emissions, etc.”

How does ITD come up with that figure? “As far as the $30,000 per half hour, that comes from an industry study of transportation performance and would depend on traffic volumes (urban versus rural setting), average wages in a particular area, and other factors,” explained Hollinshead. He said the  “$30,000 is an estimate … maybe ‘tens of thousands’ is a better ballpark feel. A traffic delay in Orange County (in California) would probably yield different numbers than a delay in Timbuktu.”

Anyway, he said, in Idaho in 1997, the department “estimated a delay to cost about $13,500 when we had about 70,000 vehicles per day using the freeway. Now with 120,000 in some areas of I-84 over a 24-hour period, and with the cost of everything having gone up since 1997, that $30,000 number is just an estimate.”

Since 1997 the unit has responded to more than 100,000 incidents, according to Hollinshead. He added that in the initial years of the program, good records were not kept but the number of incidents is more than 67,000 since the beginning of 2004.

The duties of the Incident Response include changing a flat tire, providing a gallon of gas, providing water for an overheated radiator, calling a tow truck, jump-starting a car with a dead battery and offering the use of a cell phone.

The units respond to incidents along the I-84 Treasure Valley corridor and on the Connector. They are not on the road 24/7. The crew members are staggered so that there is coverage from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. each weekday.

The program was created to provide assistance to motorists. The team also supports emergency responders, such as law enforcement and ambulance staff.

When traffic flow is impeded, problems can result, said Hollinshead. The longer a car sits on the side of the road or in the lanes of traffic, the chances of another related accident (a secondary crash) increase significantly, he said.

Drivers can call Incident Response at 846-7500 or *ISP.

Efforts to reach some Senate and House legislators for comment on the program were unsuccessful.

The new licenses have had some people worrying that Idaho has incorporated aspects of the federal REAL ID Act into them. According to Ed Pemble, ITD’s driver services manager, that is not the case. “Idaho is a not a REAL ID state and there are no plans to be one. REAL ID has a lot more to do with what is required to get a license than the card itself.” The Idaho Legislature three years ago passed legislation forbidding the state from complying with REAL ID.

Still, REAL ID was passed by Congress as a national security measure and there are some in Congress who are demanding that states comply with the law and that the federal government force its implementation. By contrast, the Cato Institute, a public policy think tank dedicated to limited government and individual liberty, is adamantly opposed to REAL ID.

Twenty-four states are refusing to comply with the REAL ID regulations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The law, passed by Congress in 2005 on the recommendation of the Sept. 11 commission that investigated the 2001 terror attacks, aims to prevent terrorists from obtaining valid driver’s licenses and ID cards. But the Bush administration delayed the program’s original May 2008 compliance deadline amid claims that it was an unfunded federal mandate that would cause major disruptions in air travel, limit access to federal facilities like courthouses and infringe on Americans’ privacy rights. Since then there have been two more delays, the latest from the Obama administration. It postponed enactment until January 2013. The program is estimated to cost $17 billion to implement.

Some confusion may have stemmed from the more uniform look of the new licenses. Idaho, along with other states, has taken the recommendations of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, which include having licenses from each state be as close as they can be as far as layout and where to look for certain information. The idea is that law enforcement officials don’t have to search for information about the motorist, they can know exactly where to look for the information.

Among the things required for REAL ID is proof of identity. If Idaho were to ever become a REAL ID state, every person who currently has a driver’s license would be required to go through the process of proving his identity. Pemble said for that to happen the current law rejecting REAL ID would have to be changed, and he does not believe that is going to occur.

Some REAL IDs also have a small computer chip in them to store information. Pemble said the new driver’s licenses are much more secure than Idaho’s previous ones, but it was done mostly to prevent counterfeiting. According to Pemble, “Bar-codes can be machine readable and our Idaho licenses do have bar codes. Enhanced driver’s licenses used for land border crossings require chips. Enhanced driver’s licenses are a form of REAL ID.”

However, while Idaho and 23 other states are on record opposing implementation of REAL ID, the fight is not over even with the delay by the Obama administration. The concern by some in Congress is that not having the REAL ID system could allow terrorists to move about the country undetected. “The timing for such a delay is worse than ever,” Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “The administration should not prolong REAL ID implementation. By doing so, they disregard the law of the land. Delaying REAL ID unnecessarily places Americans’ lives at risk and threatens national security.”

But the National Governors Association welcomed the extension. “Protecting the security and integrity of drivers’ licenses and state identification cards is a top priority of the nation’s governors. However, REAL ID presents significant operational and fiscal challenges to states,” the group said in a statement. “Governors have long said that REAL ID, in its current form, is unworkable. That has not changed.” It added: “Extending the compliance deadline allows states and the federal government more time to find solutions that work,” adding, “Arbitrary deadlines that only keep people from boarding an airplane do not make the impossible possible.”

For the Washington, D.C.-based Cato Institute, the problem with REAL ID is its assault on what it calls “the rights of every American.” Says Cato policy analyst Jim Harper: “It (REAL ID) mandates that every state’s database – containing Social Security cards, copies of birth certificates, etc. – be linked and accessible to tens of thousands of DMV employees.

“By making our personal information accessible to countless individuals across the country, REAL ID exposes it to misuse and identity theft. In addition, the new driver’s licenses created by REAL ID will contain a machine-readable component, allowing the government to track and monitor law-abiding citizens like we are criminals on parole. Any way you look at it, the REAL ID national ID scheme is a bad law that needs to be scrapped. It is enormously expensive, offers little to no benefits, and places our personal information at risk for use in identify theft,” said Harper.

A report from a task force formed by Gov. Butch Otter said the state needs $534 million more each year to spend on Idaho’s transportation needs. No action was taken during the recently completed 2011 legislative session — the task force recommended holding off until Idaho’s economy improves.

“Any revenue raising measures are inappropriate until we are on the way to a recovering economy,” Hammond told IdahoReporter.com.

While transportation was mostly a quiet topic during the legislative session, Hammond said there was some good news, including the recent follow-up of an investigation of the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) that found that the state agency is following recommendations.

“There were a lot of concerns and a lot of problems, and I’ve very pleased with the progress that ITD has made,” Hammond said. “Rather than argue about the validity of the concerns, they jumped right in and began work on remedying those concerns.”

Hammond also backed ITD’s request for $162 million in bonding authority for the Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle (GARVEE), which borrows money to pay for six road projects across the state. Those projects will be repaid as Idaho receives highway funding from the federal government.

The Senate Transportation Committee also heard a plan from Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, to use the remaining $143 million in potential GARVEE bonds to pay for bridge maintenance. Hammond said he asked McGee to hold off on that issue until lawmakers have more serious discussions on paying for road maintenance.

Those talks on revenue measures, including raising Idaho’s 25-cent gas tax or vehicle registration costs, would start next year, but might not come until 2013, when lawmakers would have a better idea of how the state’s economy is recovering. Lawmakers also will have to stand for election after next year’s session.

Hammond said that, on the whole, the legislative session was difficult but productive.

Outside the committee he leads, Hammond also worked in the Senate on urban renewal legislation. The House passed several new limits on urban renewal districts, which use property taxes to pay for economic development projects. The Senate passed one piece of urban renewal legislation, which Hammond backed. He said restrictions are good, though urban renewal districts can serve a purpose.

Hammond’s not sure what the next step will be on urban renewal, but said that he’s debated urban renewal every year he’s been in the Legislature. He doesn’t favor doing away with urban renewal districts because many urban renewal districts work well. He said the city of Post Falls, where he was the mayor, is a shining example of urban renewal, since they have several small districts and have ended some completed projects.

Urban renewal agencies collect $52 million a year in property taxes for their projects, which critics say can be a waste of taxpayer dollars.

“I feel like I sent them a bear and they sent me back a carcass, but I will concur with what they did” the north Idaho lawmaker told IdahoReporter.com. “Hopefully I’ll be back next year to do some changing.”

The legislation Harwood got passed by the House would require anyone wanting to sue to stop the Idaho Transportation Department from issuing an oversized loads permit to put up a cash bond worth five percent of the value of the goods being transported on Idaho roads. The version passed by the Senate Monday gives a judge discretion on whether a bond is needed and increases the potential cost of the bond to 10 percent of the goods’ value.

Such a lawsuit has only cropped up once, in the past year surrounding megaloads shipments of oil equipment along Highway 12 in north central Idaho. That lawsuit was unsuccessful in blocking the shipments, though more could follow if more shipments are scheduled.

Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, who worked on the Senate amendments, said the changes make it easier for the public to be involved, but still make it difficult to activists to use lawsuits as a delay tactic to hold Idaho’s economy hostage. “People’s jobs were being held up by these lawsuits,” McGee said during Senate debate. “Frankly, senators, I don’t think that’s acceptable.”

The Senate approved the amended version of Harwood’s plan on a 27-8 vote. Harwood said the changes gives judges too much authority to decide whether to require a bond.

“The legislators should make the law, the courts should implement the law. What we’ve done is given it to the courts and said ‘here, you make the law,’” Harwood said. He said the amended version could lead people who want to sue to pick a judge who’s friendlier to environmentalists. “You know which judge to go to do these things.”

The Idaho Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho opposed Harwood’s version of the plan, because it could be confusing and limit access to the courts. McGee said the ITLA worked on the Senate amendments.

Harwood expects the House to concur with him on the Senate amendments. He said he’ll be back next year with changes to the legislation, including bringing back a minimum bond required, though it could be less than 5 percent on large loads worth more than $1 million.