JULY Rules, Regulations & Fees for Idaho

JULY Rules, Regulations & Fees for Idaho

by Representative Heather Scott – District 1

Idaho’s legal code is written, for the most part, by unelected government bureaucrats within state agencies and is heavily influenced by special interest lobbyists.  These codes, once passed, have the full force of law.  Agencies are required to negotiate with citizens, but few citizens rarely take the time to notice or comment.   I have made it my mission as a state representative to change that, by educating citizens so they can control their government. 

Each month, hundreds of pages of proposed rules and regulations are written which will then be presented to the legislature for approval during the next session.  Each proposed new code is organized by topic.  The time is now for you, the citizen, to become engaged and share your concerns with the agency in charge before the final code is written, becomes law, and affects you!

Below is a simple summary of what is being proposed for negotiation this month.  If you or someone you know has knowledge on these topics or has concerns with any of the following proposed rules, please continue reading below to get involved. Please don’t delay as there are deadlines to call hearings or comment. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE: Practice and Procedure of the Idaho Department of Agriculture; Automotive spark engine fuel, diesel fuel and biodiesel fuel blends; Liquefied and Compressed Natural Gas, Diesel Gallon Equivalent (DGE), Gasoline Gallon Equivalent (GGE); Weighing and Measuring Devices; Storage of dairy byproduct in solid stacks and/or in compost yards on dairy farms; Standard for measuring soil phosphorus; Updates American Feed Control Officials; Methodology and practice of regulatory fertilizer registration and label review; Voluntary service sample testing termination; Amend the Idaho Grain Certification Standards “Land Requirements”- irrigated fields; Amend the Potato Certification Standards.

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: Occupational specialist- public school & postsecondary career technical teachers; Standards/structure for school districts and charter schools for professional development and mentoring plans; New content standards for secondary students around college and career readiness; Career technical education content standards; adding Health Sciences Content standards, amend the Early Childhood Education standards, add  standards: Business and Marketing Education: Business Management, Digital Communication; Agriculture and Natural Resources, Plant and Soil Standards; Engineering and Technology, Media Tech-Commercial Photography; Skilled and Technical Sciences, Cabinetry and Millwork, Industrial Mechanics, Law Enforcement, and Small Engine Repair/Power Sports. 

IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF LABOR: Unemployment Insurance Benefits Administration Rules: Clarifies filing requirements and providing greater flexibility for relocation of claims processing center for budgetary reasons or due to a natural disaster such as fire or flooding.

BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYORS; Clarify the requirement to follow the Qualifications Based Selection statute Section 67- 2320, Idaho Code for consultants and sub consultants. 

DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME: Free big game tags (and no license fee) annually for children with life-threatening medical conditions and disabled veterans; Revising use restrictions for the bighorn sheep Auction and Lottery Tags; Allowing flexibility to limit the number of non-outfitted, nonresident tags and establishing an allocation for outfitted tags for a controlled hunt;  consideration  of restrictions on the use of trail cameras and similar unmanned devices, and restrictions on use of electronic two-way communication (voice/text/video/ images/data, via phone, radio, or other transmitting device) as an aid to hunting big game animals; Use of bait for hunting gray wolf; Migratory Game Bird Seasons and limits, Chinook Salmon Summer Fishing Season and limits.

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: Negotiations regarding the Personal Needs Allowance (PNA) for Medicaid participants living in Nursing Homes. 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND WELFARE: Personal Needs Allowance (PNA) for Medicaid participants living in Nursing Homes; Eligibility for cash assistance households with a fleeing felon member or with a child who turns eighteen-exclusion of a child’s Social Security Income; Developmental disability waiver;  Foster care reimbursement rates.

IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE: Barring the approval of any life insurance policy bearing a name which is misleading or confusing; life policy forms submitted to the Department “in duplicate”; insurers offer uninsured and underinsured auto coverage to Idaho consumers; removing retail licensing requirements, amend language to make title insurance policy cancellation fees permissive rather than mandatory; Preexisting Condition language changes; requirements of insurers to furnish hospitals and certain other service providers, a six month supply of paper forms for the filing of claims; Revise definition of “things of value” and requirements for charge a cancellation fee; Providing specifics for the plan design of five individual health plans to be offered through the Idaho Individual High Risk Reinsurance Pool.

IDAHO STATE BOARD OF DENTISTRY: Removal of reference to the American Dental Association’s sedation-related documents; Examination rules to make a distinction between written and clinical examination results and to clarify the clinical examination requirements; Revising the unprofessional conduct rule regarding prescription drugs,  The dental assistant rule regarding rubber dam will be revised; new section to define parameters for tele-dental services authorized under the Idaho Tele-health Access Act.

BOARD OF NURSING: Update and clarify the Board’s rules regarding limited licenses and nursing educational programs.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: Rules for the Control of Air Pollution in Idaho

STATE PUBLIC DEFENSE COMMISSION: Standards for defending attorneys and workload standards and ensuring representation of Idaho’s indigent defendants meets constitutional scrutiny.

IDAHO STATE TAX COMMISSION: Tax brackets for calendar year 2017; removal of historical data being retained;  Update the amount of guaranteed payments that are sourced as compensation for services; grocery credit; Rules and tax changes for road and paving contractors; trade-ins, trade-downs and barter; Taxes-Manufactured homes (mobile homes) and modular buildings, Transportation, freight, and handling charges: recreational vehicle;  Production exemption, Occasional sales;  Vehicles and vessels – gifts, military personnel, nonresident, new resident, tax paid to another state, sales to family members, sales to American Indians, and other exemptions; Certificates for resale and other exemption claims; Hotels, motels and campgrounds; Hand tool, component, and unit price;  Property exempt from taxation – motor vehicles, recreational vehicles, and vessels properly registered; park model recreational vehicles qualifications for the property tax exemption;  Park model recreational vehicles that will not be licensed and registered are subject to the property tax;

Tax exemption for investment in new or existing plant and building facilities upon county commissioners’ approval-qualifying investment threshold from three million dollars ($3,000,000) to not less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000); Administration of the property tax homeowner’s exemption program; “recreational vehicles” ; Refund claims – documentation; Records required for intrastate special fuels; Calculations of refunds for nontaxable uses of motor fuels in motor vehicles;

Title and scope, short-term or vacation rental act; Hotel/motel room sales tax, short-term or vacation rental act; Returns, the short-term or vacation rental act; Deficiencies, collections, and enforcement, short-term or vacation rental act; Administrative Appeals for wine tax appeals; Administrative appeals-Redetermination, Collection, and Enforcement; IDAPA 35.02.01. Rule 017 – Redetermination, Collection, and Enforcement; Administrative appeals procedures for beer tax appeals;  Rule 014 incorporates by reference IDAPA 35.02.01, “Tax Commission Administrative and Enforcement Rules.”; Redetermination, collection, and enforcement of the beer tax.

The entire bulletin can be viewed at this link.

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