Amends existing law to revise a provision regarding the Project Choice program fee and the transfer of those funds to the General Fund in certain instances.
PROJECT CHOICE PROGRAM FEE -- Amends existing law to revise a provision regarding the Project Choice program fee and the transfer of those funds to the General Fund in certain instances.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
▶ Show statement of purpose▼ Hide statement of purpose
This proposal makes changes to Idaho Code 49-454 - PROJECT CHOICE and IC 67-2914 - Idaho Law Enforcement Fund Established. The Idaho State Police (ISP) has had difficulty recruiting and retaining commissioned peace officers, and one of the cited concerns for our troopers leaving has been pay. Almost 20 years ago, the legislature created the PROJECT CHOICE program fee of $3.00 on vehicle registration in Idaho Code 49-454. These funds are deposited into the Idaho Law Enforcement Fund, as outlined in Idaho Code Section 67-2914. It is proposed that the project choice program fee in IC 49-454 be increased from $3.00 to $12.00, allowing the ISP to fund adjustments to commissioned personnel salaries to remain competitive with law enforcement agencies that offer higher pay and attract/take our troopers. The PROJECT CHOICE FEE was created to assist ISP in recruiting and retaining staff. IC 67-2914 - Law Enforcement Fund Established, will dictate that when the CHOICE fund exceeds 200% of the current year's appropriation, those funds will be transferred to the general fund.
BILL TEXT
▶ Show full bill text▼ Hide full bill text
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1360 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE AN ACT 1 RELATING TO THE PROJECT CHOICE PROGRAM FEE; AMENDING SECTION 49-454, IDAHO 2 CODE, TO REVISE A PROVISION REGARDING THE PROJECT CHOICE PROGRAM FEE; 3 AMENDING SECTION 67-2914, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN MONEYS IN 4 THE IDAHO LAW ENFORCEMENT FUND SHALL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE GENERAL FUND; 5 PROVIDING SEVERABILITY; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EF- 6 FECTIVE DATE. 7 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 8 SECTION 1. That Section 49-454, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 9 amended to read as follows: 10 49-454. PROJECT CHOICE FEE. (1) A project choice program fee of three 11 dollars ($3.00) eight dollars ($8.00) shall be collected in addition to each 12 registration fee assessed pursuant to section 49-402(1), (2) or (3), 49-411, 13 49-412 or 49-434(1), Idaho Code. Such fees shall be deposited to the Idaho 14 law enforcement fund established in section 67-2914, Idaho Code. 15 (2) The project choice program fee shall be collected and deposited 16 pursuant to subsection (1) of this section for registrations for calendar 17 year 2007 and thereafter. 18 (3) The project choice fee shall be used, subject to appropriation, 19 exclusively for the purposes of creating a career ladder within the Idaho 20 state police and to provide salaries to encourage the hiring and retention 21 of trained and qualified employees for Idaho state police positions. Idaho 22 state police personnel who have participated in and benefited from the use of 23 the project choice fee, as of July 1, 2010, shall continue to participate in 24 and benefit from the project choice fee while employed by the Idaho state po- 25 lice. Provided however, that beginning July 1, 2010, the use of the project 26 choice fee shall be restricted in the following manner: the project choice 27 fee shall be used exclusively for the purposes of creating a career ladder 28 for commissioned officers, dispatch personnel and forensic personnel within 29 the Idaho state police; and to provide salaries to encourage the hiring and 30 retention of trained and qualified commissioned officers, dispatch person- 31 nel and forensic personnel. 32 SECTION 2. That Section 67-2914, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 33 amended to read as follows: 34 67-2914. IDAHO LAW ENFORCEMENT FUND ESTABLISHED. (1) For the purposes 35 of the Idaho state police, there is established in the state treasury of the 36 state of Idaho the Idaho law enforcement fund, to which shall be deposited 37 funds as provided by law. 38 (2) At the beginning of each fiscal year, moneys derived from the 39 project choice program fee, as provided in section 49-454, Idaho Code, that 40 -- 1 of 2 -- 2 are in the Idaho law enforcement fund and that exceed two hundred percent 1 (200%) of that fiscal year's appropriation, as certified by the state trea- 2 surer, shall be transferred to the general fund. 3 SECTION 3. SEVERABILITY. The provisions of this act are hereby declared 4 to be severable and if any provision of this act or the application of such 5 provision to any person or circumstance is declared invalid for any reason, 6 such declaration shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of 7 this act. 8 SECTION 4. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby 9 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after 10 July 1, 2026. 11 -- 2 of 2 --
LATEST ACTION
Introduced; read first time; referred to JR for Printing