Opening Week Legislative E-Newsletter from Representative Lance Clow

Idaho Legislature sent this bulletin at 01/06/2018 11:22 AM MST

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Idaho State Legislture

Representative Lance Clow, District 24A - Twin Falls                                January 6, 2018

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start your Engines!

On Monday, January 8, 2018 the 2nd Session of the 64th Idaho Legislature will be called to order at 12:00 Noon.  Other than a few formalities, the days events begin with the welcoming of our Idaho Senators and Justices of the Idaho Supreme Court to a special joint meeting in the Idaho House of Representatives Chambers.  The highlight of the day is Governor C. L. "Butch" Otter's State of the State remarks.  These will are scheduled for 1:00 PM.  The State of the State lasts about one hour and can be watched live on the legislative media website.

Economic Committee will set Revenue Estimate

The week prior to the opening session is busy for 18 legislators.  As a member of the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee (EORAC) we rolled up our sleeves and got to work this past Thursday and Friday.  This committee meets to study Idaho’s economic outlook and then provide an estimate of State Revenues based upon the existing tax structure.  We spent two days of listening to twenty-two presentations.  These experts range from the Tax Commission, the Governor’s Office of Financial Management, Economic Forecasts from Idaho Universities, the Department of Agriculture, Associated Tax Payers of Idaho and a variety of business associations. 

From this information, the joint EORAC Committee of the House and Senate will provide individual forecasts that will be compiled for our final meeting on January 11th.  We then compare our forecast to the Governor’s. His forecast is first revealed during the State of the State address on the 8th, a few hours after we submit our personal forecast.  From that information a formal letter is compiled and submitted to the Legislature with our consensus revenue estimate.  This is an important step for the Budget, as spending limits are set based upon anticipated revenues.  All this is done to comply with our constitutional requirement, Article VII, Section XI, to provide a Balanced Budget.

BSU Intern Joins Rep Clow for 2018 Session

This is the first year that I will be supervising and working with an Intern.  Jessica Franco, a recent political science graduate from Boise State University, will be working with me.  I look forward to directing her learning, while she will provide support with research and improved communications.  It often surprises citizens, that legislators do not have full time staff during the session.  There are only a few shared staff members assigned to legislators.  Having Miss Franco’s part-time help, should make me a better legislator and hopefully provide her with a great learning experience.

Let's Keep in Touch

This is my First E-Newsletter in 2018.  I plan to send one every two weeks to my list of constituents.   I also have a legislative letter that is sent by "snail mail" to a rotating list of 200 constituents every two weeks.  The main difference between the letter and e-newsletter is timing, with modest updates.  In a few weeks, my "snail mail" letter will be mailed, followed by the e-newsletter.  If you are not receiving my E-Newsletter and, or would like to be included in my snail mail list, send your contact information to lclow@house.idaho.gov.