REXBURG -- Ellis and Karren Miller looked for a reputable contractor to add a room onto their home. But the job didn't pay enough to attract any big companies.

So, when a solo contractor approached them, the Millers, both teachers, hired the man. Several months and $40,000 later, the Millers had a new room for their grandchildren to play in.

But the contractor didn't tell the couple he'd charged $13,000 worth of supplies from a lumber company. When the company couldn't recoup the money from the contractor, it went where the supplies were, in the sunroom off the Millers' kitchen.

A lien was placed on the Miller's home. The couple borrowed $13,000 and took the contractor to court. That cost another $1,500. The contractor filed bankruptcy. The couple learned that he'd done the same in Montana.

If Idaho required building contractors to be licensed, the Millers believe, this contractor never would have been in business.

"When so much money is involved, why aren't they licensed?" Karren Miller asked. "We may have retired, but now we're paying off that room."

Idaho has debated contractor licensing for 40 years and will do so again during the upcoming legislative session. The 1,500-member Idaho Building Contractors Association (IBCA) has drafted a bill that would require contractors doing jobs of more than $2,000 to register with the state and carry workers' compensation and liability insurance.

Government licensing is an age-old discussion that enflames passions on both sides -- those who believe government should not interfere with the free market and others who think government has a duty to protect citizens from unscrupulous businessmen.

At a recent IBCA meeting in Idaho Falls, Bonneville County Commissioner Lee Staker, a former state senator, probably spoke for many when he said he wouldn't support additional government licensing. Staker said he always voted against licensing while in the Legislature. He simply doesn't believe the government should interfere with free enterprise.

But Fremont County contractor Steve Pinther said he sees new contractors come and go in the Island Park area. Most do good work, he said, but some do not. Those who cheat consumers, Pinther said, simply open a new business under a new name and take advantage of more people.

"If we don't clean up the profession, who's going to do it?" Pinther asked.

Many professions must be licensed in Idaho. And the requirements are much more stringent than what the contractor's association is proposing.

A dietician in Idaho must earn college credits and complete an internship to attain a state license. Social workers and architects must pass tests to earn their licenses. For a barber/stylist to receive an Idaho license, he or she must have earned a diploma from a barber school.

But for homebuilders, the state requires nothing. For people such as Karren and Ellis Miller, the only recourse for being bilked is to go to court.

Eastern Idaho's Better Business Bureau sees this all the time.

Its CEO, Katheryn Jones, said contractors make up the highest rate of unresolved cases the BBB investigates, more than used-car dealers or auto mechanics.

In 2003, the BBB received 1,040 inquiries about contractors and 29 complaints. In 2004, the number of inquiries fell to 754 but the number of complaints more than doubled to 60. The problem, Jones said, appears to be getting worse.

"I think that's kind of revealing," she said.

One contractor, Jones said, recently had three complaints filed against him. The last, Jones said, cost a consumer more than $40,000 because the contractor filed bankruptcy.

Proponents of contractor licensing acknowledge their bill won't eliminate all bad operators. But it might stop them from moving on to other victims.

"The hope and intent is it stops consumer No. 2 from being taken after consumer No. 1 has been had," said Jeremy Pisca, a Boise attorney and lobbyist for the IBCA.

But the contractors are fighting history, and a belief among many conservatives in Idaho that government licensing has gone too far.

Idaho passed a contractor-licensing bill in 1965 and rescinded it two years later. A legislative interim committee studied the issue in 1999 and a year later a bill, carried by Idaho Falls Republican Bart Davis, died in the Senate without receiving a floor vote.

Last year, a licensing bill passed the Senate before dying in the House when Idaho Falls Republican Lee Gagner, facing a hailstorm of criticism, pulled the bill. That bill, many believe, helped defeat Gagner in last May's GOP primary.

Gagner, a land developer, and the IBCA were accused of trying to corner the market by making the cost of doing business too high for individual contractors.

Rep. Joe Cannon, R-Blackfoot, a contractor who does not build homes, said he believes the $2,000 ceiling is too low, and that it would catch people who are not professional contractors.

Though he believes contractors should be licensed, he said that concern probably would have compelled him to vote against last year's bill.

Pisca, however, said raising the $2,000 ceiling simply allows more people to get bilked. Not requiring contractors to put down a bond removes the argument that the IBCA is trying to squeeze out small contractors, he said.

Idaho Falls requires contractors to post a bond and pass a test before working in the city. Pocatello and Chubbuck have similar licensing requirements. If a contractor works on a project using public dollars, he must be licensed.

Dick Skidmore, who's been building homes in eastern Idaho since 1958, said he supports state licensing, but worries about contractors being buried in red tape.

Skidmore said he hopes that if the bill passes, cities such as Idaho Falls would get rid of their license requirements.

"You've got licenses coming out of your ears," Skidmore said. "Every time you turn around, somebody wants a license."

Skidmore said the most positive aspect of the bill is the insurance requirement. Cannon agrees, saying, "there is absolutely no excuse not to have that."

Certainly this has been a work in progress.

The bill Davis carried five years ago required contractors to post a $10,000 bond. The new bill has no bonding requirement. It also contains several pages of exemptions. Proponents have learned not to overreach.

Still, Davis said its time Idaho do something to protect consumers who do not understand complicated lien laws or the technology used in homebuilding.

"I think we've got to provide additional protection to consumers," he said.

Government reporter Corey Taule can be reached at 542-6754.


* Facts about the Idaho Contractor Registration Act / A4

Contractor Registration Act

The Idaho Contractor Registration Act, which will be introduced during the upcoming legislative session, would require a building contractor doing more than $2,000 worth of work to be licensed by the state. Licensed contractors would be compelled to purchase workers' compensation and a minimum of $300,000 of liability insurance. The license would not exceed $150 a year and would be good from one to five years, to be determined by the Idaho Contractors Board, which would consist of four contractors from all corners of the state, and one citizen. The governor would appoint members to the board. Any contractor already licensed by a city or county would be charged no more than $50 for a state license. Contractors in violation of the act would face a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. If passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor, the Idaho Contractor Registration Act would take effect Jan. 1, 2006.

Who's exempt?

Those exempt from the Idaho Contractor Registration Act include:

* A person working for a contractor

* A person who supplies materials to a contractor

* A person working on a project for which supplies and labor do not add up to $2,000

* A farmer or rancher engaged in farming, agriculture, viticulture, horticulture, or a dairy, stock or poultry operation

* An owner who contracts for work to be performed by a registered contractor on his own property, provided the owner does not intend to sell the property within one year of such construction

* An owner performing construction on his residential property

* A person working on a rental property he owns

A scenario

A real estate agent sells you a tract of land, on which you plan to build your dream home. An architect designs the home. A contractor builds the home. Plumbers and electricians are brought in to do the dirty work. In the process, you break several fingernails and visit a cosmetologist. Your back is sore from heavy lifting and you visit an acupuncturist. He tells you to eat better so you visit a dietician. She says you need a haircut and you visit a stylist. While in the chair, you suffer a heart attack and die. A mortician sees to your final needs. In Idaho, the real estate agent, architect, plumber, electrician, cosmetologist, acupuncturist, dietician, hair stylist and mortician must have a state license. Only the building contractor