2005 Idaho Code - 67-429 — POWERS AND DUTIES

                                  TITLE  67
                      STATE GOVERNMENT AND STATE AFFAIRS
                                  CHAPTER 4
                                 LEGISLATURE
    67-429.  POWERS AND DUTIES. (1) It shall be the duty of the council to
collect and compile information, to draft bills and to conduct research upon
any subject which the legislature may authorize or direct or upon any subject
which it may determine, provided that all activities of the council must be
reasonably related to a legislative purpose. The legislature may make specific
assignments to the council by a concurrent resolution approved by both houses.
    (2)  The council may hold public hearings and it may authorize or direct
any of its committees to hold public hearings on any matters within the
jurisdiction of the council.
    (3)  The council shall establish and maintain a legislative reference
library.
    (4)  For the purpose of conducting any study within the jurisdiction of
the council, by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3)
of the entire membership of the council, the chairman of the council may
subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance,  take evidence and require the
production of any books, papers, correspondence or other documents or records
which the council deems relevant or material to any matter on which the
council or any committee is conducting a study.
    (5)  It shall be the duty of the council to superintend and administer the
legislative space in the capitol building at all times, and to prepare such
space when required for the sessions of the legislature, which shall include
the provision of furniture and equipment.
    (6)  The legislative council shall review and make recommendations to the
administrator of the division of human resources on all aspects of the state
personnel system, including policies, wages and salaries.
    (7)  The council has authority to appoint committees and hire staff or
contract for services to implement the provisions of this section. In addition
to the duties provided above, the council has authority to:
    (a)  Provide the legislature with research and analysis of current and
    projected state revenue, state expenditure and state tax expenditures;
    (b)  Provide the legislature with a report analyzing the governor's
    proposed levels of revenue and expenditures for budgets and supplemental
    budget requests submitted to the legislature;
    (c)  Provide an analysis of the impact of the governor's proposed revenue
    and expenditure plans for the next fiscal year;
    (d)  Conduct research on matters of economic and fiscal policy and report
    to the legislature on the result of the research;
    (e)  Provide economic reports and studies on the state of the state's
    economy including trends and forecasts for consideration by the
    legislature;
    (f)  Conduct budget and tax studies and provide general fiscal and
    budgetary information;
    (g)  Review and make recommendations on the operation of state programs in
    order to appraise the implementation of state laws regarding the
    expenditure of funds and to recommend means of improving their efficiency;
    (h)  Recommend to the legislature changes in the mix of revenue sources
    for programs, in the percentage of state expenditures devoted to major
    programs, and in the role of the legislature in overseeing state
    government expenditures and revenue projections;
    (i)  Make a continuing study and investigation of the building needs of
    the government of the state of Idaho, including, but not limited to, the
    following:  the current and future requirements of new buildings, the
    maintenance of existing buildings, rehabilitating and remodeling of old
    buildings, the planning of administrative offices, and exploring the
    methods of financing building and related costs; and
    (j)  Conduct a study of state-local finance, analyzing and making
    recommendations to the legislature on issues including levels of state
    support for political subdivisions, basic levels of local need, balances
    of local revenues and options, relationship of local taxes to individuals'
    ability to pay and financial reporting by political subdivisions.
    (8)  In performing its duties under subsection (7) of this section, the
council and its employees may consider, among other things:
    (a)  The relative dependence on state tax revenues, federal funds and user
    fees to support state-funded programs, and whether the existing mix of
    revenue sources is appropriate given the purpose of the programs;
    (b)  The relative percentages of state expenditures that are devoted to
    major  programs such as education, assistance to local government, aid to
    individuals, state agencies and institutions and debt service; and
    (c)  The role of the legislature in overseeing state government
    expenditures, including legislative appropriation of money from the
    general account, legislative appropriation of money from funds other than
    the general account, state agency receipt of money into revolving and
    other dedicated funds and expenditure of money from these funds and state
    agency expenditure of federal funds.
    (9)  The council's recommendations shall consider the long-term needs of
the state. The recommendations must not duplicate work done by standing
committees of the senate and house of representatives.
    (10) The council may, after consultation with the governor and with the
chairs of the standing committees of the legislature, select mandates and
state programs for review. When selecting mandates, state aids or state
programs to be reviewed, the council may consider those that involve payments
to local units of government. Staff from affected agencies, staff from the
division of financial management and legislative staff shall participate in
the reviews.
    (11) The following state aids and associated state mandates may be
reviewed:
    (a)  Local government aid, ad valorem property tax credits, tax increment
    financing and fiscal disparities;
    (b)  Human service aids;
    (c)  Educational support dollars  utilized for school district general
    fund aids, school district capital expenditure fund aids, and school
    district debt service fund aids;
    (d)  General government aids including natural resource aids,
    environmental protection aids, transportation aids, economic development
    aids and general infrastructure aids.
    (12) At the direction of the council, the reviews of state aids and state
mandates involving state financing of local government activities listed in
subsection (11) of this section may include:
    (a)  The employment status, wages and benefits of persons employed in
    administering the programs;
    (b)  The desirable applicability of state procedural laws or rules;
    (c)  Methods for increasing political subdivision options in providing
    their share, if any, of program costs;
    (d)  Desirable redistributions of funding responsibilities for the program
    and the time period during which any recommended funding distribution
    should occur;
    (e)  Opportunities for reducing program mandates and giving political
    subdivisions more flexibility in meeting program needs;
    (f)  Comparability of treatment of similar units of government;
    (g)  The effect of the state aid or mandate on the distribution of tax
    burdens among individuals based upon ability to pay;
    (h)  Coordination of the payment or allocation formula with other state
    aid programs;
    (i)  Incentives that have been created for local spending decisions, and
    whether the incentives should be changed;
    (j)  Ways in which political subdivisions have changed their
    revenue-raising behavior since receiving these grants;
    (k)  An assessment of the accountability of all government agencies that
    participate in the administration of the program.
    (13) The legislative council may provide for a complete audit of any and
every fund in the state treasury and other state moneys at least once in every
two (2) fiscal years, and commencing for fiscal year 1995 and each year
thereafter shall provide for an annual statewide financial audit of the
statewide annual financial report prepared by the state controller, and is
hereby authorized:
    (a)  To supervise and examine the accounts and expenditures of the several
    departments and public institutions of the state and to prescribe rules
    necessary to assure the adequacy and timeliness of all audits performed
    for or on behalf of all political subdivisions thereof;
    (b)  To inspect securities held by the several departments and public
    institutions of the state and the political subdivisions thereof;
    (c)  To examine, at any and all times, the accounts of every private
    corporation, institution, association, or board receiving appropriations
    from the legislature or contracting for health and welfare services with
    the state of Idaho;
    (d)  To demand and receive reports from the state treasurer, state
    controller, director of the department of finance, and any other officer
    or agency, and from the several state depositories;
    (e)  To publish, from time to time, for the information of the several
    departments and of the general public, bulletins of the works of
    government;
    (f)  To be the official depository of all audits of the several
    departments and public institutions of the state and its political
    subdivisions; the filing of an audit with the official depository shall
    satisfy all requirements for the filing of an audit with the state, any
    other provision of law notwithstanding;
    (g)  To review or have reviewed the work papers or other documentation
    utilized in the audit of a state department or public institution of the
    state and its political subdivisions, and to reject for filing in the
    official depository any report based upon unsatisfactory work papers or
    inadequately supported documentation;
    (h)  To review and approve the terms and conditions or other statement of
    services to be provided on any or all contracts or agreements by state
    government agencies for audits or audit type services; and
    (i)  To report to the attorney general, for such action, civil or
    criminal, as the attorney general may deem necessary, all facts showing
    illegal expenditure of the public money or misappropriation of the public
    money or misappropriation of the public property.  The governor and state
    controller shall also be notified when the report is made to the attorney
    general pursuant to this subsection.
    All reports, findings and audits of the legislative council pursuant to
this subsection shall be submitted to the legislature and to the governor.