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Three Things to Watch for this Week
The legislature is very busy these days. Committee work is intense and there are many bills filling up agenda calendars for the House Sessions. With so much going on, it's sometimes hard to get a focus on some very important issues. Here are three highlights of what you might want to pay attention to for the week ahead.
Remote Testimony Pilot Project -- Firearms Safety Classes in Schools bill (H443). The hearing in the House Education Committee will be held on Monday, February 26th at 9:00 a.m. This is the first opportunity Idaho citizens have to testify for or against a bill without having to drive to Boise to do it. You can sign up for testimony in advance, and then go to your closest remote testimony site to actually testify and answer questions in a live teleconference with the committee. The closest site for District 34 (Madison and Bonneville Counties) is in Idaho Falls at the Idaho Falls Research and Extension Center, 1776 Science Center Drive. To sign up to testify live before the House Education Committee from Idaho Falls or any one of the six remote locations, go to this sign up page.
The Firearms Safety Classes bill encourages school boards to offer firearms safety classes in K-12 public schools, and provides instruction for who can be selected to teach the courses. This bill has the potential to save lives in Idaho. A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study found an 80% reduction in deaths related to firearms accidents for kids who have gone through a safety course in kindergarten through third grade. Please consider testifying on this bill.
A Conservative Health Care Plan will have a hearing early next week in the House Health and Welfare Committee. The proposal, by Rep. Bryan Zollinger, saves taxpayers over $100 million, does not shove people off private insurance, allows patients to keep their current doctor, and most importantly does not expand Medicaid. We need Idaho solutions which allow people to exercise individual choice in healthcare rather than the big-government plan to put more Idahoans on a federal program. Idahoans deserve choices, low costs, and independence in their healthcare, not more federal dependency and control. The Conservative Healthcare Plan is a freedom alternative for Idahoans.
Meanwhile the big-government, dual waiver healthcare plan is on the House 3rd Reading calendar. Word on the street is the plan doesn't have enough support to pass the House right now, so leadership is holding it until they can sway enough moderate republicans to change their votes. Conservatives are holding strong. It is bill H464 and would cost taxpayers $100 million or more and expand the Obamacare welfare program.
A Grocery Tax Repeal bill is in the drafting stage and hopefully will be coming forward in the next few days. For the past several weeks, tax proposals have been introduced in the capitol. Unfortunately, the only one moving forward to this point has been the relatively smallish tax cut plan from Governor Otter. With so much extra tax collections coming into Idaho government ($400 million), we can and should do more to return the excess to Idaho's hardworking families. Gov. Otter's plan does NOT include repealing the sales tax on groceries. So, some colleagues and I have drafted a bill to simply repeal the tax on groceries and the grocery tax credit. The bill is a clean bill and will be a great complement to Governor Otter's income tax relief. Many Idahoans have expressed a desire to remove the tax on groceries and this bill gives their representatives the ability to respond to those wishes.
Bills-of-Interest Update:
H376 - Human Trafficking - House 3rd Reading Calendar
H389 - Highway Speed Limit - House Transportation Committee
H405 - Repeal Unfair Sales Act - Senate Commerce Committee
H412 - Repeal Common Core - Stalled in House Ways & Means Comm.
H413 - Education Freedom in Idaho - Stalled, House Ways & Means Comm.
H414 - Sex Education Standards - House Education Committee
H418 - Lobbyist Limits (no state employees) - House State Affairs Comm.
H420 - Electronic Public Notice - House State Affairs Committee
H443 - Firearms Safety Education - House Education Comm. (Hearing 2/26)
H444 - Stand Your Ground - House State Affairs Committee (Held by chair)
H447 - Civil Asset Forfeiture Protection - Passed House, sent to Senate
H448 - Breastfeeding Protection - Passed House, sent to Senate
H449 - Precious Metals Income Tax Exempt. - Senate Local Gov. Comm.
H452 - Short Term Rentals Clarification - Senate Local Gov. Comm.
H463 - Income Tax Cut (Otter) - Senate Reading Calendar
H466 - Minimum Wage Exemption - Passed House, Senate Commerce
H557 - BIG Tax Relief Plan - House Rev. & Tax. Committee (held by chair)
H560 - Bond Disclosure - House Rev. & Tax. Committee (new bill coming)
H574 - County Commissioner Elections - House State Affairs Committee
H575 - Huckleberry Pie - House State Affairs Committee
H577 - Cannabidiol Oil - House Health and Welfare Committee
HCR32 - Call for Convention of the States - Defeated in House State Affairs
S1243 - Abortion Pill Reversal Information - Passed Sen., in House St. Aff.
S1284 - Parking / Booting Regulation - Senate 2nd Reading Calendar
Remembering a Personal Hero: Sheila Olsen
When I married my wife, Maria Olsen Nate, I married into an awesome family. Maria's mom, Sheila Olsen passed away on February 11th. Sheila Olsen is a wonderful example of someone who was always and anxiously engaged in good causes. She leaves a powerful legacy of community service, loving parenting, and being an awesome grandmother. She will be lovingly missed. Here is her full obituary.
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.
Steps for Schools
This legislative session, legislators have the chance to earn some extra money for their local schools. I've been participating in the Steps for Schools challenge sponsored by Blue Cross of Idaho. If I average 10,000 steps per day for the month of February, I will present a check to some local schools in District 34. On Wednesday this week, we had the opportunity to do our steps with school kids from nearby Monroe Elementary School in Boise. Here is a picture with some of the kids joining us on the Steps for Schools capitol day. It was great fun meeting them and I'm excited to be able to help our schools -- while getting a bit healthier too! My thanks go out to Blue Cross of Idaho and to these great kids.
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.
Please email me your questions and comments: nater@house.idaho.gov
Rep. Ronald Nate
District 34 - nater@house.idaho.gov
Committees:
- Revenue and Taxation
- Judiciary, Rules, and Administration
- Environment, Energy, and Technology
State Capitol | P.O. Box 83720
Boise, Idaho 83720-0081 | (208) 403-3609
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