Rep. Ron Nate - Dist. 34 - Legislative Update 1-11-18

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Idaho State Legislture

January 11, 2018

Rep. Ronald Nate - District 34

Representative Ron Nate - Budget Speech

Remember The Forgotten Man (The Taxpayer):
Idaho's Budget Priorities

   Taxpayers are the forgotten men and women in Idaho.  For years now, tax dollars coming into the state coffers have grown, grown, grown.  And, Idaho government has spent, spent, spent.  But, have we reduced tax rates, or tried to control spending in ANY meaningful way?   Unfortunately, the answer is no.  Instead taxes have been RAISED further, and government has grown, grown, grown.  And, last year we even BORROWED money for roads. 

   We are entering this 2018 session with over $300 million in tax dollars flowing to the capitol ahead of projections. Idaho owes it to every taxpayer to return every penny not needed for the limited and proper role of government. The legislature has a responsibility to restrain government to the leanest of budgets, and let hardworking families keep the fruits of their labors. 

   We can and should repeal sales taxes on groceries, and reduce personal and business income taxes. This can all be done without any budget cuts.  We simply need to stop the wasteful spending increases.  The forgotten taxpayer deserves respect.

    Each legislative session begins with the Governor delivering his annual State of the State Address.  Our 2018 Session started on Monday and Governor Otter spoke for nearly an hour on our state’s economy, education, healthcare, and budget issues.

   As is usual recently, the Governor recited a buffet of his new and growing spending plans.  While there are truly some needs, like continuing to provide teacher pay increases so we can be competitive with surrounding states in getting and keeping good teachers, the lion's share of the Governor’s spending was excessive.

   Overall, he proposed a budget (once all adjustments are accounted) spending increase of over 9.2% more than the previous year.  Now, I’m not sure how many Idahoans got a 9.2% raise last year, but the Governor sure thinks the state government deserves that kind of a raise!  

   Fortunately, the Legislature does not have to accept the Governor’s recommendations.  We can look at other priorities to best meet the Constitutional requirements, keep government lean, eliminate waste, and leave more money in Idahoans’ wallets.

   Looking at this 2018 legislative session, here are a few alternative general priorities for Idaho: lower taxes, competitive and excellent education opportunities, education freedom, government transparency, reducing regulations, and restoring lost liberties.

   When I visit schools in Madison and Bonneville Counties, I make it a point to ask about the current state of our local education.  Administrators tell me some teacher openings are difficult or impossible to fill for lack of quality applications for those positions.  This is especially true in key areas such as mathematics and science.  The Career Ladder has helped, but we could be smarter about it.

   If we would stop adding new programs to our education system, as we seem to do every year, we would avoid new spending items competing with teacher pay every subsequent year.  We can also re-direct existing education spending toward teacher pay.  We have more than enough education funding already, but too much is spent on administration, regulation compliance, reporting, and bureaucracy.

   Last year I found $101 million in overall excess spending we could have avoided.  That’s enough to provide every one of Idaho’s 16,000 teachers a $6,700 raise.  And we should allow for differentiated pay.  If mathematics and science teachers are most scarce, we should be able to increase pay specifically for those teachers.

   Education also needs to provide freedom of choice.  Parents and students should have every opportunity to choose the best education to meet their needs and wishes.  As good as our local education is already, a one-size-fits-all system can’t possibly meet every student's needs.  Repealing state mandates for Common Core, SBAC testing, and other standardized testing will allow local districts to makes the best choices.

   We need full government transparency when local bonds or levies are proposed. Often there are conflicting estimates and claims about the eventual costs to taxpayers.  This is easy to fix.  If ballot measures for government borrowing included simple financial disclosures for voters and taxpayers, then they would be able to vote based on complete information rather than conflicting and probably biased estimates of the cost of borrowing. 

   Other lost liberty concerns include gun rights, data & privacy security (education, medical, and other areas), land use freedoms, business regulation, and private property rights, just to name a few. 

   Idaho is a great state, but it’s not perfect.  There is always something we can do to improve education, government, and liberty.  Usually this means reducing government and spending, not expanding them.  Hopefully, with the support of District 34 and fellow legislators, I can do my part to help Idaho become even better. 



Idaho State of State Address - 2018

Welcome to the Idaho 2018 Legislative Session

   I am truly honored and humbled to be serving as a Representative for District 34 in the Idaho Legislature.  I am committed to being the best representative I can be, so it is hard work; but I find it enjoyable and fascinating.  A good legislator is responsive to citizens, carries their important legislative issues, and advances the principles of liberty and Constitutional government.  Idaho is a great state, but there is still important work to be done to return to fiscal conservatism, restore lost freedoms, and to protect rights of individuals. 

   Here are a few of the issues I’m working on this session—all of them have come from citizens in District 34 who want to see positive changes in public policy:

  • Repeal the sales tax on grocery purchases
  • Reduce both individual and business income taxes
  • STOP the wasteful spending!
  • Repeal Common Core as a state mandate for school districts
  • Ensure the SBAC test is not required (already a “rule”)
  • Allow and encourage gun safety classes in schools
  • Allow local governments to issue public notices on the Internet
  • Provide full disclosure of bond/levy costs before district voters cast their ballots
  • Require information about Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) for women considering abortion
  • Fix the broken committee system which limits the voice of the people in the legislative process

 


Growing Freedom - Get Involved!

   Please visit the Growing Freedom Idaho website to help all citizens be more involved with what is going on in the Idaho Legislature and how to effectively make their voices heard.  The site includes a Freedom Agenda of legislation brought to the legislature by citizens and is what liberty minded legislators are pursuing this session.

www.GrowingFreedomIdaho.com


Stay in Touch!

   As always my goals are to best represent District 34’s views and interests, keep my oath to protect and defend the U.S. and State Constitutions, restrain government influence, keep taxes low, and support legislation that is constitutional, economical, and moral.  I always appreciate feedback from voters and citizens.  As you probably know, citizen input is very important and influential.  When you and others contact legislators, they have the power and incentives to protect rights and keep their oaths.  Together, we can keep Idaho great and free.

 

   You and your friends can contact your legislators to make your views known by emailing or calling them.  To find your representatives’ and senators’ contact information you can click here for representatives, and here for senators.