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Since the beginning of this session, the Joint Finance and
Appropriations Committee (JFAC) has been meeting each morning to hear budget
requests from the state agencies of Idaho.
This week’s hearings were devoted to the Education budgets. Some of the presenters in JFAC included:
The State Board of Education
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
Community Colleges
University of Idaho
Agricultural Research
& Extension Services
Forest Utilization
Research
Geological Survey
Health Education
Programs
Boise State University
Idaho State University
Lewis-Clark State College
Public School Support
Services for the Deaf & Blind
Professional-Technical Education
STEM Action Center
Idaho Public Television
WEDNESDAY,
JAN. 27, 2016
Eye on Boise
By Betsy Russell
Hundreds of students and
families are gathered on the steps of the Statehouse to celebrate School
Choice Week with an annual rally and signature yellow scarves…
Click
Here for the complete story.
I have the
privilege of being the chair of the Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee.
Before
session I co-chaired the CEC committee to determine the salary and benefits for
the state employees. We will make a recommendation to Joint Finance & Appropriations Committee (JAFC) in February so they
can budget and approve or disapprove our recommendations.
We have
many RS hearings lined up in all three of my committees so will be very busy in
the months going forward.
The Ag Committee
will be meeting with the director of agriculture concerning invasive species, Quadra
Mussels in particular and the federal matching funds that are available.
The
Education committee is also very busy with rules and presentations. I will introduce a change to my Civics bill
from last year dealing with the questions all immigrants who want citizenship
must know. The change is so some students that need extra help through school
will have the opportunity to learn in a different manner.
 Attended
a meeting with the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs. Dancers from St. Mary’s School
I
found the potato truck!!
There has been discussion about HB
354 and concern it is redefining the definition of marriage in Idaho. HB 354 is a tax conformity bill that aligns Idaho tax code with the Federal tax
code, something we have done every year except one in recent history.
This year’s conformity bill removes
section (c) from IC 63-3004 because the Supreme Court ruled that an individual
benefit (in this case tax deductions, credits and other benefits) offered to
one person cannot be withheld from another. All this bill does is recognize the
process of establishing adjusted gross income for state tax calculation is the
same as for federal tax returns. The
Idaho Constitutional definition of marriage remains.
UPDATE ON THE TAX CONFORMITY BILL
Because of concerns by some about
the removal of section (c), HB 345 was returned to the Rev & Tax Committee
and a new RS was presented on Friday morning.
Unlike the previous version of the bill,
which struck a now-voided paragraph added to the law in 2014 requiring same-sex
couples who file joint federal tax returns to recalculate their taxes and file
separately in Idaho, the new version leaves that clause on the books. But it
adds another sentence after it, saying, “Notwithstanding subsection C of this
section, marriages recognized and permitted by the United States Supreme Court
and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals shall also be recognized for
purposes of the Idaho Income Tax Act.”
I attended a lunch with Idaho Coop
Council/FFA Cenarrusa Day and visited with some great FFA young people and
advisors. Kimberly, Filer, Buhl, Jerome
and Castleford were in the crowd of about 600 FFA leaders.
I had a committee hearing on my
bill HB 372 giving the state primacy on restricting or taxing auxiliary
containers such as disposal plastic bags, boxes, cups etc. It was sent to the floor with a due pass
recommendation.
The Assn. of Idaho Cities had their
winter meeting in Boise and I visited with city officials from Buhl, Filer,
Kimberly and Twin Falls.
I attended the Idaho Chamber
Alliance lunch and visited with Magic Valley Chamber officials.
I met with the students and
teachers of Heritage Academy and presented them with an Idaho flag that was
flown over the Capitol in honor of their school. The flag was a gift from Sen. Patrick, Rep.
Bell and Rep. Kauffman.
This session I have joined a
walking competition called Steps for
Schools, which is sponsored y the High
Five Children’s Health Collaborative.
During the month of February, many legislators and I are working to walk
and be active each day. We are also
taking steps to get educated about the current state of childhood health in
Idaho. At the end of the month, the
three legislators with the most steps will earn $3000, $2000 or $1000
respectively for a school in their district.
You can check in on our progress by visiting the Steps for School webpage.
Other meetings and contacts this week included:
Idaho Community Bankers
Soil Conservation Districts
Idaho Travel Council
Idaho Academy of Family Physicians
Boise State University
Idaho Auto Body Craftsman Assn.
Idaho Potato Commission
University of Idaho
Idaho Counseling Association
Idaho State University
.
.
I have been fortunate to visit with the
Capstone
students each year and explain the Joint Finance
and Appropriations
Committee (JFAC) process
to the leaders of tomorrow.
We can only listen and gather facts for so long
before the JFAC group needs to get down to business, so we are
starting with some budget corrections to the funding we passed last
session as we continue, the hearing process.
We began last
week with a full schedule for the budgets that provide health and welfare
services. On this, the last week in January, we are spending each day
hearing education budget requests.
The general fund history of how we spend the
revenues in Idaho shows the largest five budget requests make up 85% of
requests, and the largest thirteen make up 93.7% of the total general
fund. This week and last will cover 77 percent of the total budget.
One in every three Idahoans received some type
of service from the Health and Welfare budget. Most of the services are
to children, aged, or disabled. As the long economic downturn lingered,
our region of the state had about 24,000 people using food stamps to supplement
their income. With more jobs available, the average time on food stamp
assistance is 13 months.
The county indigent fund is also showing fewer
residents who need assistance from the county and the state. It would
seem that the Idaho Health Exchange has been working as it should to help many
find affordable insurance. And a final note from the Welfare hearings are
the facts about the Idaho children who need the services of the state. On
any given day, there are 1300 children in foster care, many with “kin” usually
grandparents. After every effort to strengthen families, the state does
215 adoptions a year
Our own Community College was before the
committee this Wednesday during Education Week. All three community
colleges provide basic education, job training skills, and community
outreach. As Cliff Bar breaks ground in Twin Falls, CSI will be providing
the proper training for the good jobs that each new business will bring to the
valley. This is certainly a two-edged sword. For the past two years
as our economy has become stronger, those in high education have felt the brunt
of diminished funds. The number of students is down and the state funds
for the student count. One of our budget efforts this year will be to replace s
portion of that lost funding. Fewer students does not mean the
infrastructure can be dismantled. The College of Southern Idaho provides
duel credit to students in 32 counties and 64 High Schools. The cost of
the credit is provided by the state at $65.00 per credit. This is a
tremendous savings to our students in both time and money. For those
students attending the professional classes such as welding, food processing,
and law enforcement, the college has a 93% placement record. The state
goal is to have every High School Senior know that the funding help is
available as is the necessary counseling. Idaho has 40% of our youth go
on to achieve a degree or certification beyond high school. The goal is
to have 60% by 2020.
One of the new programs from the State Board of
Education is to allow high school students direct admission into our higher
educational institutions. The letter to those with reasonable grades
states “Keep Calm, You are Admitted”. And on a final note on this week of
education information, one of the recommendations in the governor’s budget is
for $5 million more in scholarship funds. I am looking for those dollars it
now!!
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