The front steps of the capitol were filled with veterans this afternoon to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War to honor those who served. On Monday, the Governor signed the proposal that will designate Idaho's Hwy 20 the "National Medal of Honor Highway". The Transportation Department will place 8 signs on both sides of the highway from Parma to Yellowstone. It was a great week of honoring veterans.
The highly controversial initiative bill, S1159 was scheduled to be voted on Friday (after barely making it out of the Senate with an 18-17 vote last week). On Thursday legal advisors revealed that S1159 would be found unconstitutional. Instead of amending it, House leadership used its majority authority to suspended all rules and introduced a new "trailer" bill to make changes to S1159, then forwarded it to the House floor without a public hearing. The trailer and the original bill passed and will ultimately be sent to the Governor for approval.
A Medicaid expansion trailer meant to limit funding to Planned Parenthood died in the Senate Health & Welfare Committee. The House is now waiting for the Senate to prepare a new Medicaid expansion trailer and return it to the House for a new vote.
There are still numerous bills that committee chairmen have kept from moving through the legislative process. The legislative session will continue into April with no end in sight. School funding formula negotiations will continue after the session ends.
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As the legislative session winds down very few new bills are being introduced. The few that are fall into two categories: bills that the legislative sponsor wants to be printed so the public can discuss it over the interim, and resolutions that establish interim working committees. Below are a few of those that have been recently introduced. I always appreciate your feedback.
School Construction & Maintenance Funding: SCR111 would give the Legislative Council the authority to appoint an interim committee to study the state's methodology for funding public school construction and maintenance. It would provide $10,000 to be spent on the committee's expenses. Seven fiscally conservative senators voted against this resolution. Do you think it is a good use of taxpayer money?
Campaign Finance Reform: SCR115 would authorize the Legislative Council to appoint members of the Senate and House to the Campaign Finance Interim Committee for continued study of campaign finance reform issues in Idaho. This committee has met during previous interims. The suggested legislation they provided has been voted down, often because it targeted conservative groups. Keeping it running for another year will cost at least $10,000 for the committee's expenses.
Climate Variability: HCR22 would create an interim committee to research any needs for mitigation of and adaptation to climate variability. Their research would specifically pertain to spring runoff, forest health, wild-land fires, other Idaho-specific natural resource issues, and agricultural considerations. It would cost taxpayers at least $10,000 for the committee's expenses. Governor Little publicly acknowledged that climate change is real, and that he has witnessed it get warmer. He wants leaders to take action. Do you think your tax payer money should be used to study climate change effects on Idaho?
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* In 2018, the Idaho Lottery returned $53.5 million to Idaho public education, the Permanent Building Fund, and the Bond Levy Equalization Fund.
* Idaho State Police dispatch averages 225,000 service calls per year.
* The salary of the Idaho Hospitals Association's chief lobbyist is nearly $350,000 annually.
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Idaho Child Protective Services conducts more than 10,000 investigations each year. More than 80% of those cases are found to be unsubstantiated. The State was found to be violating parental rights, which prompted numerous lawsuits by parents. Some parents took their concerns to legislators, who introduced a bill to notify parents of their rights during a CPS investigation. It passed through the Idaho House but died in the Senate. Citizens developed a website to inform parents of their rights since the State won't. If you have children or know someone with children, encourage them to read through the information on this website linked here. Parents need to know their rights, or they might lose them! |
+ GOOD: H206 passed the house and senate and is expected to be signed into law by the Governor. It clarifies Idaho law by permitting 18-20 year-olds to carry concealed inside city limits.
- BAD: In my week 8 newsletter I received your feedback about SJM103 the 2500 page USMCA trade deal. The House State Affairs Committee voted not to support it; afterwards, the Governor issued a statement that he supports it. SJM103 was revived. Executive branch officials are putting pressure on committee members to re-vote on the memorial because "not supporting it would be not supporting Trump". The vote will be taken early next week. You can read the USMCA here.
--UGLY: Three Middle Eastern men, who are now American citizens and converted Christians, visited legislators last month to share their stories of being brutally persecuted for their religion while living overseas. They asked me to propose a resolution to bring awareness to Idahoans about religious freedom and Christian persecution across the world. You can read HR6 here. The resolution passed out of committee along party lines but it failed on the floor of the House. The reason given was that it didn't include other religions.
We all know that money has influence; even more so in state government. During session I will track the money and keep you informed about budget concerns. This week:
$ The House approved a total of $464,945,600 in spending on appropriations bills. This total includes a 13% increase for Fish & Game.
The entire FY20 spending budget will be close to $9 billion. You can see a list of all the appropriations bills linked here (scroll down to the word "appropriation").
$ H289 passed the House 60-9. It uses $10.6 million of taxpayer dollars to move the Treasurer's office out of the Capitol and remodel the first floor of the Capitol to provide more private office space for House members.
$ The House killed H226, a $16.1 million budget for the Office of the State Board of Education primarily because it included a $108,000 salary for an associate academic officer. The Finance Committee resubmitted the budget with a $750,000 reduction, but kept the academic officer's pay the same.
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