Senate looks to end emergency … with a twist

A resolution forwarded Tuesday would limit Idaho’s present and future governors’ ability to impose restrictions through emergency declarations.

However, it would still enable those declarations to be called so the state can collect federal emergency funds.

The bill — SCR 101 — passed the Senate State Affairs Committee 7-2 after a complicated collection of testimony and debate over how the bill’s mechanics would function.

SCR 101 not only would immediately end the current emergency declaration called in mid-March by Gov. Brad Little, but it also calls for a provision that does allow Little or any future governor to declare a coronavirus-related emergency in order to maintain FEMA funds.

“Nothing in this concurrent resolution shall prevent the State of Idaho from receiving any federal funds, benefits, or resources arising out of the state of disaster emergency relating to the outbreak of novel coronavirus or COVID-19,” the legislation reads. “The Governor may make or maintain declarations only to the extent required to continue to receive Federal Emergency Management Agency funding arising out of novel coronavirus or COVID-19 but may not use any such declaration to impose restrictions on the citizens of the State of Idaho.”

Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, was one of the four co-sponsors of SCR 101. He told the Coeur d’Alene Press the time for ending restrictions on Idahoans has long passed.

“If you remember when this started back in March,” Vick said, “we were going to self-isolate for 15 days to try to stop the spread. Fifteen days turned into 300 days. And we’ve been restricted ever since.”

In the wake of Little’s late-March stay-home order, unemployment skyrocketed to nearly 12 percent statewide during the first month of the pandemic.

“Our intent is to end the restriction and preserve FEMA money,” Vick said. “That’s the goal of this, and that’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”

While state officials, city leaders and lawmakers have expressed confidence ending the emergency order would not impact federal stimulus package funds divided among states — not unlike April’s CARES Act, which sent $1.25 billion to Idaho to help cover the costs of relief and supplies — ending the emergency declaration without a FEMA provision would likely force the state to give back at least $20 million in FEMA funds.

But those funds are already tied into emergency measures, according to Brad Richy, director of Idaho’s Office of Emergency Management. That FEMA money — as well as state disaster funds — are currently tied up in, among other places, the state’s Veteran’s Administration hospital system, COVID testing and other emergency provisions.

“A disaster fund can be used during a disaster,” Richy said. “If we close the disaster, then the disaster funds are no longer available.”

Richy told the committee that should the emergency declaration end and federal funds get cut off, a sitting governor would have to declare an entirely new emergency.

“There’s a lot of things to be concerned about,” Richy said. “When the local jurisdictions ask for help, when a hospital asks for help, when a health district looks for help, that’s where the Governor’s declaration comes in and allows us to enter into an agreement with the federal government to provide the assistance those individuals are looking for. Ending the disaster will jeopardize any of that. They’re on their own at that point.”

Locally, city administrators said ending the governor’s emergency declaration would have little impact on community funding, as most federal funds come through the state via the stimulus packages like the CARES Act, which do not require a declaration.

“We chose to draw down on federal funds,” said Shelly Enderud, city administrator for Post Falls. “We don’t have any money in the calendar year, and we’re waiting on a timeline for the new stimulus money, but we don’t know what that will look like yet.”

That stimulus money, Enderud said, will help finance a utility bill assistance program and other infrastructure projects, but it will eventually come through the state.

“The state will administer it, just like they did with the CARES Act,” she said. “So it really isn’t impacted by a declaration.”

Coeur d’Alene leadership said obtaining FEMA funding is far more challenging than accepting stimulus funds, and that some projects early on were already paid for by FEMA in the early days of the pandemic.

“Getting FEMA funding has always been a higher bar to get over,” city administrator Troy Tymesen said. “It’s been looking like they don’t want the governor to be able to declare these emergencies. It’s tough, because it’s hard to know when these emergencies are going to arise.”

Vick said he's optimistic about SCR 101’s chances when it comes up for debate on the Senate floor.

“I feel good that it will pass the Senate,” Vick said. “It came out of committee with a 7-2 vote, so that’s usually a good sign.”

Little has stood by his emergency declaration since the onset of the pandemic. As recently as Dec. 19, he told the Coeur d’Alene Press that COVID-19 is the textbook definition of a crisis.

“If this isn’t an emergency,” Little said, “I don’t know what is.”