News Currents

Idaho Governor vetoes bills on worker benefits, uninsured motorist coverage

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has vetoed two bills related to insurance, totaling five vetoes for the 2007 Legislature.

In vetoing a bill to boost state employee benefits, Otter said the state should be directing its attention to boosting wages, not the benefits package for state employees.

The bill would have increased the formula limiting unused sick leave that could be transferred to a state employee’s retirement account to pay for insurance premiums to 480 hours, from 420 hours. The plan would have cost nearly $400,000.

“Since state employee benefits approximate those of the average competitor while state employee pay is 15.6 percent behind the market, our focus should be on increasing state salaries and narrowing the gap rather than incrementally increasing benefits and widening the gap,” the governor wrote in his veto message. He said the bill violated Idaho’s policy of concentrating on boosting wages.

The other bill killed by Otter would have forced insurance companies to offer motorists policies that protect them against underinsured drivers in the event of an accident.

Underinsured motorist coverage pays for property damage and bodily injury caused by another motorist who doesn’t carry enough insurance to cover damages in an accident. It pays the difference between the cost of the injury suffered and the amount covered by the insurance of the driver at fault.

Had the bill become law, Otter said, it could have boosted the cost of insurance and led to more uninsured drivers on the roads.

“While no doubt well intended, (the bill) would eliminate access to less expensive forms of underinsured motorist coverage now available to Idaho consumers, forcing our citizens to obtain more-expensive forms of the coverage,” he wrote in his veto message. “Legislation that reduces choice and increases the cost of insurance to consumers may result in more uninsured motorists on Idaho’s roadways.”

The veto marked the second time a bill sponsored by Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, has been killed by Otter.

The other three bills vetoed by Otter included a bill to ban on smoking in bowling alleys, a plan to boost the grocery tax credit meant to offset the sales taxes Idaho residents pay on food, and a bill that would have allowed the Idaho State Tax Commission to send out tax-seizure notices by first-class mail, rather than certified mail.