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Senate committee backs bill to require Idaho law for Idaho construction projects
Summary
Senate Bill 1006 would make clear that construction projects taking place in Idaho are governed by Idaho law and Idaho jurisdiction even if contracts attempt to select the law of another state; the committee sent the bill to the floor with a due-pass recommendation.
The Senate Commerce Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1006 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation after testimony from its sponsor and industry supporters. Sponsor State Senator Todd Leahy said the bill would add a choice-of-law backstop that requires private construction projects located in Idaho to be governed by Idaho law and litigated in Idaho courts.
“Idaho construction projects should follow Idaho law,” said Sean Shupak, director of government affairs for the Idaho Associated General Contractors, during a brief public comment. Leahy told the committee the measure addresses situations where out-of-state laws—cited in contracts as the governing law—would force Idaho contractors to litigate in another state or under another state’s legal regime. He described the bill as a “backstop” that allows an Idaho contractor to assert Idaho jurisdiction for a project built in Idaho, without changing substantive building-code or public-review requirements handled by local jurisdictions.
Committee members asked whether the change functions as a ‘‘loophole’’ closure, how it interacts with contract terms a party already agreed to, and whether it affects building code enforcement or interstate appeals. Leahy said the bill is jurisdictional in scope and does not alter local permitting, inspections, or technical building-code application: "If they’re located within a particular jurisdiction then they should be subject to that inspection process… whether it’s the city or the county." He acknowledged that parties can agree contract terms, but said the bill creates a statutory backstop for projects built in Idaho.
Senator Nichols moved to send SB1006 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; Senator Ward Engle King seconded. Senator Ruckney spoke in support and said he would support broadening the measure in other contexts but endorsed it as drafted. The committee approved the motion by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.
The record includes industry testimony supporting the bill from the Idaho Associated General Contractors, which represents about 750 member companies, according to its witness.
