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Lawmakers log steps to win money for schools
by Andrew Reed - February 23, 2016
Click Here for the story.
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A message from Clark Kauffman
This week I carried HB 473 and HB 356
on the floor. HB 356 clarified and
updated to law concerning the Duties of the Adjutant General.
HB 473 removes the 30 day requirement to be considered
"active member" and be covered by the Uniformed Services Employment
and Re-employment Rights Act (USERRA) when members of the Air or Army National
Guard are called or ordered by the Governor for State active duty. I’m scheduled to present HB 473 in the Senate
State Affairs Committee on Monday.
I presented HB 499 to the Agriculture Committee and
it passed out of the Committee and was sent to the Floor with a “do pass”
recommendation. HB 499 deals with food safety and the implementation of the
Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Currently,
in the absence of other government oversight, food safety activities fall
primarily under the jurisdiction of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
(IDHW). However, for food processors
the primary oversight for food safety and inspections falls within the
jurisdiction of the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under the
authority of the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA). As FSMA
implementation proceeds, there is an expectation that the FDA will rely more
heavily on the states with respect to food safety inspections. This legislation
establishes the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) as the delegated
state authority for food regulation of any non-retail activities subject to
FSMA. The bill also allows for a process to take place at a later date that
would transition the food safety oversight and inspections for food processors from Health &
Welfare over to the Idaho State Department of Agriculture.
I met and visited
with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention-Idaho. Idaho is consistently among the states with
the highest suicide rates, 47% higher than the national average. The Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline received
4866 calls in 2015. These volunteers are
doing amazing work.
Idaho Power is
celebrating 100 years of service in Idaho and had a great display and history
of the Company.
Associated Logging
Contractors were at the Capitol. There
was 1.05 billion bd. ft. of timber harvested in 2015. Each million board feet of timber harvested
in Idaho provides 20 jobs (12 in the forest products industry and 8 in support
industries), $667,000 in wages and salaries and $3.85 million in sales of goods
& services. Today, Idaho’s forests
grow more than is harvested. More timber
is killed in Idaho’s forests by fire, insects and disease than is harvested.
I also met with
Community Transportation Assn. of Idaho, Professional Firefighters of Idaho, Idaho
Conservation League, Idaho Trial Lawyers, and Regence Blue Shield.
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Professional
Firefighters Day at the Capitol |
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I
visited with Senator Crapo at an event in Twin Falls this week. |
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Matt
Paradis, Super Bowl champion, visited the Capitol
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 Rep. Kauffman and Rep. Bell meeting with home schooled students and parents
from Kimberly, Twin Falls, Buhl and Richfield.
Foreign exchange students visited JFAC this week. It is a real pleasure to get to know them. Their
"English" is beautiful, and their questions are a very
thoughtful. This group included two students from Moldova, two from
Kygyzstan, and four from Ukrain.
As the month of February winds down, I am
starting the budget setting process to keep the government running in the
FY2017 which begins July 1, 2016. We are to the point where the time is
past for study and action is the order of the day. The first budgets we
set are those to fund the small but important parts of government which have
fees to run their activities. In fact some of them make money for the
general funds of the state such as the Lottery and the State Liquor Divisions.
Those funds are up considerably, a bonus for our schools, because of the
increase in liquor sales and the thousands of you who bought an extra lottery
tickets in the last power ball craze. Several years ago, the state of
Washington stopped state control of their liquor stores. The result was a
considerable increase in the sales from those coming into Idaho to make
purchases. Another very small budget gives funding to the Lava Hot
Springs Pool Complex in Eastern Idaho. This parcel was ceded to the state
for the “recreation of the people” by the federal government. It has
belonged to an Indian Tribe prior to that time. It is a wonderful place
to visit and many of the visitors, like those coming in from Washington State
are from out of state also, this time they come from Northern Utah. One
of the more unusual items in any budget was in this request. The folks
who run the complex wanted to spend some of their funds on a study on the
geothermal potential of a place called Chicken Soup Springs. Sounded okay
to me.
We will complete this week with one of the
larger and difficult budgets that of the funding for those among of who are
disable, blind, or aged. Medicaid is one of the programs along with food
stamps, child care, and some cash assistance that helps about 20th
of the population. We partner with the federal government on the
funding.
Next week the education budgets will roll
consuming 65 percent of all state funds. After that it is downhill for
the activity in my committee. Probably a good thing, because this coming week
is supposed to be warm and sunny and thoughts of Easter and home are around the
corner.
Leaders and participants from the Magic Valley Boys and Girls club visited this
week. Pictured are Lindsey
Westberg, Senator Patrick, Cassidy Littleton and Dani Hansing
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Mark Johnson, KTVB - Channel 7
February 24, 2016
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BOISE -- Cassidy Littleton from Twin Falls is the 2016 Idaho Boys and Girls
Club Youth of the Year winner.
Selected by a panel of judges that included first lady Lori Otter,
17-year-old Littleton was selected from a group of six finalists chosen from
Boys and Girls Clubs around the state.
Click
Here for the story.
Highlights from the past week:
In my Commerce and Human Resource Committee on Tuesday, we supported S1346:
Relating to Health Savings Account, presented by Senator Thayn. Idaho has a good track record with these
accounts and I invite you to check out this legislation. Click
Here to visit the Idaho Health Savings Account Website.
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In my Senate
Education Committee I supported H428:
Relating
to the College Saving Program: To Revise the Treatment of Unclaimed College
Savings Program Accounts. Click Here to visit the Idaho College Savings Program Website.
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 In my Education Committee there
was a presentation by the Idaho Public Charter Commission. The Public Charter School Commission’s
mission is to ensure PCSC-authorized public charter schools’ compliance with
Idaho statute, protecting student and public interests by balancing high
standards of accountability with respect for the autonomy of public charter
schools and implementing best authorizing practices to ensure the excellence of
public charter school options available to Idaho families. Click Here for the more
information on this commission.
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I
supported S1333:
which will provide a Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grant Fund and S1334:
which will provide the Education Opportunity Resource Act and Related
Provisions.
I
also presented S1336:
Relating to Education; Provisions to
Pupils with an Individualized Education Plan.
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