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Committee advances bill to extend land-bank reinvestment deadline from five to 10 years
Summary
The Idaho House Resources & Conservation Committee voted to send House Bill 129 to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation. The bill would extend the time the state land bank may hold proceeds from endowment land sales before rolling the funds into the permanent endowment fund from five years to 10 years.
House Bill 129, which would extend from five to 10 years the period during which proceeds from state endowment land sales may be held and reinvested by the land bank, moved out of the House Resources & Conservation Committee on a voice vote Friday.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Alana Rubel, D-18, told the committee the change would give the Idaho Land Board and the Department of Lands more time to identify candidate parcels that meet the board’s required return thresholds and to consolidate holdings adjacent to existing endowment lands. "This just gets a little bit more breathing room for the Department of Lands and the Land Board to identify investments if they wish," Rubel said.
The bill would not require reinvestment; if the land board decides not to repurchase land, the proceeds may still be rolled into the permanent endowment fund as under current law. Rubel and supporters emphasized there would be no direct fiscal cost from the statutory change because the option to forgo reinvestment would remain available.
Rep. John Van der Rada, R-22, supported the extension, saying the permanent fund balance has grown to more than $3 billion and that market conditions in recent years made timely purchases difficult. "Prices keep going up and up and up," he said, arguing a longer window could allow purchases in a future market downturn. Several other legislators asked why reinvestment could not be required; witnesses and the sponsor said that statutory direction to the land board would be an encroachment on an executive-branch function and that the land board is composed of constitutional officers who make acquisition and disposition decisions.
Jonathan Oppenheimer of the Idaho Conservation League testified in support, saying land holdings moderate portfolio volatility and provide predictable timber supplies and recreation access for rural communities.
The committee approved a motion to send the bill to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation. The vote was taken by voice; the clerk announced the motion carried but no numerical tally was recorded in committee minutes available in the transcript.
