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The second session of the 64th Legislature
kicked off January 8th with Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter’s State of the State
Address. This was also my sixth year
representing you in District 24. The
governor provided his longest State of the State remarks, as this is also the
last time he will address the Joint Session of the Legislature. The joint session includes all the members of
the Idaho House of Representatives, the Senate, each constitutional officer,
the Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Education and tax reform were high on his
list of priorities. You can find an
archive of the 2018
State of the State in the state video archives. You will need to fast forward to his remarks
which began about halfway into the recording.
The first
week is generally slow and builds momentum, however, I did sense some urgency
to stick to the schedule to conclude with a “Sine Die” motion by March 27th. Each of my committees, Education, Business
and Local Government, met for an organizational meeting. They were highlighted by the organization of sub-committees
to review the pending, temporary and fee administrative rules. There are 37 rules to be reviewed by the
Business Committee and as Vice-Chairman, it is my responsibility to organize
the sub-committees. The Education
Committee has 25 rules to be reviewed.
In a
related matter, all existing rules (final rules) can be reviewed as well. This year I intend to address two related
final rules governing the required “annual” testing of residential “backflow”
devices. The Department of Environmental
Quality and the Department of Public Safety each have a rule that requires
annual testing of all residential sprinkler backflow devices. My research indicates that the “annual”
nature is somewhat arbitrary. The
serious problems identified were the result of an improper installation, which
should have been discovered by the required initial inspection. We will be considering these final rules for
a less burdensome inspection schedule; perhaps, bi-annual or tri-annual.
Over
the past few years, I am often asked how I like being in the legislature. My standard response, “it was the next
logical step in my community service, but I do miss local government.” What I find frustrating is the dominance of
public testimony from Treasure Valley citizens.
It is logical, as they live so close to the Capitol and hearings are
announced with as little as one-day notice.
Accordingly, hearings take on a very urban tone and rural Idaho is
minimized. Most rural legislators and
those from urban cities that are at a distance from the Capitol, rely on their
outreach conducted back home. When the
bulk of testimony is weighted to the needs of the larger cities, counties and
school districts, urban citizens do not understand why legislators from more
rural districts may rely on what they have learned from their own
districts.
To address this imbalance,
I am excited to report remote testimony sites are being piloted this year. Last year Representative Caroline Nilsson
Troy, asked what I thought about offering live remote (audio/video) testimony
for our committee public hearings. I
thought it sounded great and suggested sites like the College of Southern Idaho
may have the technology in place. You
can learn more by going to this link: https://legislature.idaho.gov/remote-testimony/
. A few select Education Committee
meetings will offer remote testimony from seven sites around the state, CSI
being one of those sites. Hopefully, I
will have enough prior notice to send out a brief e-newsletter to everyone on
my distribution list. We will see how
the technology works and the reactions from all parties to the pilot program. If you are not on my Legislative email list,
you can send me your email address, or go to House Membership. Scroll down to Lance W. Clow and click on
“Subscribe to Mailing List”, which offers you an opportunity to enroll in the
e-delivery of information.
This
is my first legislative letter in 2018. I send out 200 letters from a rotating
list every two weeks. As we work through
our list, you will likely see another letter later in the session. I try to incorporate most of these bi-weekly
letters into my E-Newsletter. If you
would like to be included, in the E-Newsletter, you may subscribe by sending
your email address to lclow@house.idaho.gov. I am home most every weekend and have some
limited time available to meet. If you
have an interest in meeting or setting up a time for your neighbors or organization,
please let me know. We will try to
accommodate your needs.
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