A message from Jim Patrick
This has been another full and busy week. One of the highlights for me was to carry the
legislation that confirmed Glen Gier as a member of the State Soil and Water
Conservation Board. Glen is from the Magic Valley.
I also participated in committee hearings and
debate on the following:
Senate Agriculture Committee
The Idaho Wine Commission gave a
presentation led by Moya Dolby, Executive Director. Their presentation went
over their finances for the year as well as highlighting some key programs in different parts
of the commission and projects the commission has. There was some discussion about
their presentation.
The USDA Farm Service Agency gave a
presentation too. Mark Samson, State Executive Director gave an update
over the agency including their finances, projects, problems, programs and an outlook
for the future.
Senate
Education Committee
I presented S1290: Relating to
Teachers: College/ Career Advisers to the Education Committee.
There was a presentation by Sherri
Ybarra, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Dr. Cheryl Finley, Director of
Assessment about the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC). There was a
good discussion after this presentation. I included the following news article to provide a little more insight on this discussion:
SBAC likely
to face another test at the Statehouse
by Kevin
Richert - January 6, 2016 - Click Here for the story.
There was also a presentation by Ron
Pisaneschi, General Manager at Idaho Public Television (IPT) giving the
committee an update about IPT and what has happened this past year and what they
are planning to do this coming year. You can access this information by clicking here.
I did lose my front license plate bill but will
be carrying a modification of last year’s civics legislation as well as modification
of carrier advisors.
We said good bye to our house pages who have served the first half of this legislative session.
The
two beautiful ladies with me are Emily and Christi both are my right and left
hands in the office. Could not do without their assistance and friendship.
JFAC committee pages.
|
|
|
.
|
|
The Idaho Cattlemen visiting the Capitol this week.
|
We finished six weeks of budget
hearings by listening to the requests of our Idaho State Police. The
details of the presentation told the need for more troopers to patrol our roads
and cars with less mileage for those who drive all day and part of the
night. Facts are fine and I need them to make the spending decision,
however, more importantly is a sugar beet I met. On the way to Boise for
a meeting last December a frozen ten pound sugar beet flew off of a transport
in front of me and through my sun roof, covering the front seat with glass and me
with a feeling of sheer terror. My first instinct was to call the State
Police, not to arrest the beet but to get the help I needed. And in a
very short time, I had all the help necessary to continue my trip. This
is what we can expect of the police who serve in any capacity in our
state. Like all budgets, all of the needs will not be met in any year but
I want you to know that there is great value to our safety and peace in this
state by those men in blue.
A very nice way to start this week was the
annual trip to Boise from those wonderful 4-H girls and boys and their
leaders. The Know your Government Conference offers a way for tomorrow’s
leaders to have a taste of what they can expect as they take the reins of
leadership in the state. Over 5,000 youth have attended the conference
since 1987 and many I have met from Jerome have returned to be pages in the
Statehouse.
One of the more touching moments in our body
was the presentation and passage of HCR29 to honor the 130th
Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. Rep Hy Kloc shared the story
of his parents, Polish refugees who came to America thru Ellis Island after
spending time in a displaced persons camp in Europe at the end of WWII.
Rep Kloc included a picture and a heart touching story that gave much new
meaning to the Statue of Liberty.
The committee work is beginning to show up for
floor debate so the days we spend in session may start to lengthen. My budget
bills will take about five days to produce after we vote and that will begin
next week. The schedule still looks good for a late March end to
this session. Of course as we all remember, there can be bumps in the
road!
Attended
a reception honoring Rich Garber's 15 years at U of I and celebrating his new
position as a spokesman for the Idaho Grain Producers.
Crapo
speaking to the Idaho House of Representatives.
|
|
|
.
Breakfast
with some great 4-H young folks participating in Know Your Government
.
Know Your Government (KYG) is a 4-H program that gives the
youth of Idaho insight on what occurs at the state legislative and judicial
government levels. Over 5000 teens have
attended since 1987. The mission of the
conference “is to provide 4-H members an opportunity to learn more about the
decision making process in their communities and state.”
I met with Magic Valley School Superintendents and school
board members while they were in town for their association meetings.
I met with representatives of AARP at their new office in
the CW Moore Building in Boise.
I had a meeting with the Idaho Trucking Assn. and discussed
SB 1229 which passed out of the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday. SB 1229 provides legal authority for the
state of Idaho to allow vehicle combinations with a gross vehicle weight of
129,000 pounds or less on Idaho’s interstate highway system. These previously were allowed only on
designated state routes.
The House passed SCR 132
which stated findings of the legislature and recognizing Idaho peace officers
for their service to the state. This
was a salute to the men and women who do the difficult, dangerous and often
thankless work of safeguarding our communities.
I co-sponsored HCR 32
that recognized Pulse
crops such as lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas as a vital source of
plant-based proteins and amino acids for people around the globe and should be
eaten as part of a healthy diet to address obesity, as well as to prevent and
help manage chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary conditions and cancer.
This joint memorial recognized the tireless work of the Idaho Pea & Lentil Commission
and the Idaho Bean Commission in promoting these important crops to the world.
I sponsored HB 499
dealing with the Food Safety Moderation Act (FSMA), a rewrite of the U.S. Food
Code being implemented by FDA. It is
expected that as FSMA rules are enacted that FDA will rely on the states to
implement those rules. 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 IDHW over to
ISDA.
I’m carrying and sponsoring HB 473
& 356
which are bills dealing with military advocacy issues.
It is a pleasure serving the Magic Valley!
Our constituents have asked about electronic tax filing. Click on the link below for information on this process.
Free File is made possible through a public-private
partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alliance, a non-profit coalition
of leading tax software companies. To learn more about the program, visit www.freefilealliance.org or www.IRS.gov/freefile.
About IRS Free File
More than 46 million returns have been filed through the Free File program since
it began in 2003.
70% of American taxpayers (about 100 million people) are eligible for Free File.
98% of users would recommend the program to others (2009 IRS survey).
|