On Monday members of the House and
Senate celebrated the birth of our state with a program honoring Idaho’s
heritage. This year's theme was “Idaho
Remembers” in honor of the 100th Anniversary of WWI Armistice and
all Idaho Veterans who have served.
In the House of
Representatives a musical medley of patriotic songs was performed by “The
Belles of Eagle”.
Breanna
Williams, who was introduced as one of Idaho’s signing bluebirds, sang “Here We
Have Idaho” for the Senate.
 This week I had the honor of sponsoring Workforce Development
legislation (HO432).
The bill has passed both the Senate and the
House and is now awaiting the signature of the Governor.
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Workforce
Development Council fine-turned
The Idaho Workforce
Development Council provides
strategic direction and oversight for Idaho's workforce development system. The
Council members represent business, workers, education, state and local
government and community-based organizations. The primary role of the Council
is to advise Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and the State Board of Education
on strategies designed to yield high-quality workforce investment services for
Idaho's businesses, job seekers and students.
This week the Senate passed
legislation (HO432) to make the council more responsive to the needs of Idaho
employers by including industry leaders.
The legislation also addresses the shortage of well-educated, trained
and skilled employees available in Idaho’s labor market. In addition, the legislation authorizes use
of the Workforce Development Training Fund for public information and outreach
on career education and workforce training opportunities.
The
Resources Committee heard a report from the Treasure
Valley Water Users Association reporting on flood districts #10 & #11.
 Last
year during the flood in the Boise area1.8 million-acre feet of water was
released for flood control through the Treasure Valley. Flood control began in mid-February and continued for 101
days. 1.8
million-acre feet of water is enough water to cover 1.8 million acres with one
foot of water. For perspective Twin
Falls and Jerome Counties equal about 2.2 million acres. 10 levies were damaged
on the Weiser River. Flooding was a
statewide issue last year and some areas are still working to address damage.
Flood management has three
parts: risk reduction, response, and recovery. Risk reduction occurs before a
flood event and includes river channel maintenance, obstruction removal, bank
stabilization, and public information and outreach. Response during the flood
event includes continued public information and outreach, mitigation to reduce
damages, and removal of obstructions. The recovery phase after the flood event
includes damage assessments, prioritization of repairs, and repair work.
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We received the February General
Fund Report. Click
Here for the full report.
February was the fourth consecutive
month that General Fund receipts have exceeded their forecasts. They were
$166.1 million this month, which is more than expected by $44.3 million. They
have been above projections in every month except for October 2017. For the
fiscal year to date, General Fund receipts are $2,432.3 million or (5.7%) more
than was predicted and 12.0% above the same period last year. The largest
contributor to this month’s surplus was the individual income tax of an additional $29.7 million above
projections. Also, the sales tax contributed another $6.3 million to this
month’s surplus, with actual receipts of $103.9 million exceeding the predicted
$97.7 million. The corporate income tax was forecast to be slightly negative
(-$0.6 million) this month, but it came in at $3.4 million—a $4.0 million
surplus.
Revenue & Taxation Committee
This week we had bills dealing with
distribution of Sales Tax to cities and counties. It has been several years
since the formula has been adjusted and the sponsor thought it needed to be
reviewed. The bill was introduced and
will not move forward this session but will be available publicly for everyone
to comment on.
A bill proposing an opioid tax at
the distributor level with the money going to addiction recovery programs was
held in committee. The debate centered
around adding a new tax that the consumer would end up paying.
Next week we will hear a bill that
will address another part of conformity with the Federal tax code. It deals with foreign income and bringing
money from overseas back to the U.S.
We received a report card on Idaho Infrastructure from the
American Society of Civil Engineers. The
report included bridges (D), dams (C), drinking water(C), energy (B-), roads
(C-), schools (C-) and wastewater (B-).
 Civil engineering experts and infrastructure professionals
in their respective fields from the Southern Idaho Section of ASCE, prepared
the 2018 Report Card for Idaho Infrastructure.
The report card is created to educate and advise the public and elected
officials on the existing status of our State’s infrastructure. With Idaho’s population growth we need to be
proactive in looking for ways to fund, maintain and improve our
infrastructure. Whether it is a high
hazard dam, a structurally deficient bridge, a poorly maintained road, aging
pipeline or other questionable infrastructure we need to move forward to fix
and preserve public safety.
Most of the Committees are winding
down with House Bills that need to be sent to the Senate this week to keep the
schedule for the session.
Thank you for the honor of serving
as your District 25 Representative.
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The High Five Children's
Health Collaborative, powered by the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation, challenged
Idaho legislators to walk as much as they could during the month of February
2018. This
year Legislators walked over 10+ Million steps during the Steps for Schools
Challenge. That is more than enough to
get everyone from Boise to DC and Back to Boise again!
Winners of the Steps for
Schools challenge earned cash to fund physical activity equipment or walking programs
at schools in their legislative district. Representative Clark Kauffman from
District 25 was recognized this week as one of the winners of this
challenge. Click
Here for more information.
Lawn
mowers are running back and forth on a lawn that is just beginning to have
color. Just days ago, the parking spaces were half filled with
snow. While I am a little surprised at the lawn work, the calendar says
it is time for a change of seasons. That change has come to the activity
in the legislature also. The calendar is filled each day, and even those
bills that are more complicated are discussed and dispatched more quickly
The longest debate centered on the move to ask the citizens to vote
for a Constitution Amendment to state more clearly the rights of victims. The
effort failed to receive the necessary forty seven votes, so the issue is dead
for this year.
The
budget bills are finally hitting the reading calendar. We started many
weeks ago to hold the hearings. The heavy lifting happens with the
extensive work to put the decisions into clear and concise bills to be sent to
the voting bodies. One more morning and perhaps a little clean-up will
finish my final budget setting process.
 Representative
Kauffman again made the extra effort to get 10,000 steps a day. This is
the third year that his efforts have brought in $500.00 for one of our
schools. I get to do the drawing and leave the walking to him.
Happy to say this check will go to Filer.
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 We
had a great visit from Mr. Lasso and his Social Studies Class from
Hansen. The class always brings some bills they have written. The
topics are timely and very much in the news. We enjoy the give and take
with this group High School students, and am grateful they take time to visit
their Capitol.
The
goal to be finished is now just two weeks away. This is the time when too
many issues show up to be addressed that should have been in the works for a
month. Human nature always seems to prevail.
Again, my sincere
thanks for the opportunity to serve at your representative.
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