Local Control – Are Counties and Cities mere “Creatures of the State?”
There is a growing trend in the Capitol where more politicians want to strip local decision-making authority from cities and counties. We saw this last session with banning the use of eminent domain to create greenbelts and parkways, a law that is preventing Eagle and Meridian from creating a bike path that would take more cars off the road, decreasing traffic and improving public health.
This session two bills have been introduced that cities and counties opposed:
1) HB 463 denying city ballot initiatives to vote on raising minimum wage;
2) HB372, preempting city and county authority on regulating plastic container use and disposal.
Rep Vito Barbieri (R) echoed sentiments of republican politicians on the House floor stating that “cities and counties are mere creatures of the state.”
This sentiment is deeply troubling when I repeatedly hear politicians rejecting federal involvement and support, openly attacking the United States as if we weren’t citizens of this country. The politicians who are running things in the Statehouse persistently refuse to expand the Healthy Idaho Plan, closing the insurance gap for 78,000 Idahoans, but they will continue to accept federal agricultural subsidies and fight against paying taxes on dyed fuel for their equipment, taking a state “handout” to support business.
State leaders need to work with cities and counties and open the dialogue to create policies that help local communities, not simply reign an iron fist of state control.
The preemption bill denies cities the ability to raise their minimum wage, creating major obstacles to border cities like Lewiston and Coeur D’Alene, who are competing with minimum wages across the border in Washington. In Spokane, for example, a minimum wage earner will make $340.00 more monthly than the minimum wage earner in CdA. That creates problems as people will leave the state to earn more money.
Politicians hide behind the curtain of ethereal economic theory about big business when the reality of low wages continues to keep our citizens from increasing their earnings and taking care of themselves. That $340.00 a month in CdA, for example, could help people pay their rent, purchase child care, or pay for insurance on the health exchange.
Unfortunately, our Statehouse politics are out of balance and the politicians are out of touch. We need to listen to our county and city leaders and constituents to help them develop the tools they need to succeed in their communities. State leaders should add value, not take it away.
Check out the Spokesman Review’s recent poll about local authority preemption.