Governor Little began his address by emphasizing the importance of vaccination against COVID-19 as part of ensuring our children can get back to school and our businesses can get back to work. He spoke about a proposed tax cut as well as using some of our surpluses to fund education, workforce development, and transportation. However, he was cautious about initiating ongoing expenses given the uncertainty of the economy in light of the pandemic. He lauded Idaho as the least regulated state in the nation and emphasized that our business-friendly policies will encourage private investments and well-paying jobs will follow. He then took questions from those in attendance, which included concerns about inadequate mental health and addiction recovery resources, deeper investments in higher education, workforce shortage, and the climate crisis. In response, Little emphasized the need for more high-quality daycare to increase female workforce participation and said that he felt the role of the State was to seed some initiatives but primarily defer to local governments to address the housing shortage. The one comment that specifically related to real estate was in response to a question about 2021 Idaho House Bill 389, which amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to revise provisions regarding the homeowner exemption, the circuit breaker tax reduction, the disabled veteran’s tax reduction, the property tax deferral program, and the taxation of personal property. Little said that time will reveal some of the shortcomings of that bill and he indicated that it will probably be revised in future legislative sessions.
Article Submitted by:
Mandana “Mandy” Tarr, Adler Industrial
BOMA Idaho Advocacy Committee
BOMA Idaho Members in the Community
We love to see our BOMA Idaho members in action in the community. Here is a list of our member companies that supported the Chamber Event:
Idaho Power Company
Saint Alphonsus Health System
Idaho Housing and Finance Association
Colliers International
Adler Industrial, LLC
BOMA Idaho’s Government Affairs Committee Purpose
Monitors, studies, and recommends policy direction and advocacy strategies on legislative and regulatory matters that affect the commercial real estate industry.
Advocacy Committee Members:
Justin Cranney, Chair
Kelly Schnebly, Advisor
Sheree Willhite, Board Liaison
Mandana “Mandy” Tarr, Adler Industrial
Morgan Pitcock, Brighton Corporation
Kim Yelm, Fidelity National Title
BOMA Idaho’s Recap of the Governor’s Address to the Business Community
By: Mandana “Mandy” Tarr – Senior Property Manager – Adler Industrial
BOMA Newsletter – August 16, 2021