>>>Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 14:55:02 -0800
>>>To:vision
>>>From:ttrail@moscow.com (Tom Trail)
>>>Subject:MARCH 2 LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER
>>>Cc:trailsteven
>>>Bcc:lkeenan@norby.latah.lib.id.us
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> MARCH 2 LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER--TOM TRAIL, DISTRICT 5
>>>
>>> 1. INTRODUCTION--My legislative newsletter is now the Internet. You
>>> can check in on the news by contacting http://users.moscow.com/ttrail/
>>> Over 80% of the citizens of this state have access to Internet through
>>> their public libraries. My thanks goes to Nicholas Makhani and Matt
>>> Schwantes for setting up the initial home page, and my daughter-in-law
>>> Debbie Trail for setting up the legislative page. She will input the
>>> weekly reports.
>>>
>>> I've wanted to improve communications with District 5 citizens through
>>> the use of technology. This past week I received 78 different
inquires.
>>>
>>> 2. THE WEEK THAT WAS--The tempo of the legislative session is picking up.
>>> Over 1,000 bills have been drafted. This is about the same as last
>>>year.
>>> The last of the bills are coming out of committee, and we are
working on
>>> the floor of the house almost 4-5 hours/day and this will increase.
>>>
>>> 3. WESTERNBACK RATTLE SNAKE AND THE OFFICIAL IDAHO VEGETABLE--THE POTATO
>>>
>>> We must all remember that under the Idaho Constitution that any citizen
>>> has the right to introduce a bill in the Legislature. Two groups of
>>> school children introduced bills this session through their
>>> representatives. The 4th graders of the Boise Summerwind School
>>> introduced a bill that would have named the Westernback Rattlesnake
>>> as the Official State Reptile. The school children researched the
topic
>>> for more than a year, and they testified in the House State Affairs
>>> Committee. The bill was voted down 55-13. A group of 4th graders in
>>> Jerome introduced a bill to name the potato as the official state
>>> vegetable. The bill passed 55-14.
>>>
>>> Many legislators felt the bills were of a frivilous nature, and this
>>> was reinforced by the press. A number of representatives indicated
>>> that "we had more important matters to attend to in the house."
>>>
>>> My perspective is each one of the 4th graders is an Idaho citizen.
Each
>>> student has the right to participate in the development of a bill to
>>> the Legislature as guaranteed under our State Constitution. The value
>>> of the idea behind the bill is in the eye of the beholder. I can
>>> guarantee that some of the bills I've seen introduced by legislators
>>> are marginally noteworthy.
>>>
>>> I voted for the rattlesnake bill. Then Rep. Max Black (Boise) and I
>>> took pizza and pop out to the Summerwind School, and we had lunch with
>>> the students, teacher, and parents. We talked about the value of the
>>> process they participated in and encouraged them to continue the
process
>>> by contacting other 4th grade classes. This, we suggested, will help
>>> them build a constituency for next year. The potato bill will not
>>> not become law. It will be held in the Senate State Affairs Committee.
>>> Leadership does not want to be critized for voting on a "frivilous"
>>>bill.
>>>
>>> 4. FRIVILOUS BILLS
>>>
>>> An intensive study of the New Mexico Legislature's Top Ten bill titles,
>>> chosen after intense study of the Legislature's official daily bill
>>> locator: 1) unlawful attack by a dog; 2) sewage lagoon; 3) llama
>>> definition; 4) disposal of bodies; 5) foot treatments; 6) disabled
>>> vehicle registration; 7) centralized kitchen; 8) drive in right-hand
>>> lane; 9) red or green? and 10) excessive weight permits. We have our
>>> own in the Idaho State Legislature. One has to keep a sense of humor
>>> in the legislature process.
>>>
>>> 5. STATE EMPLOYEE SALARY INCREASES
>>>
>>> I spoke up in the Republican Caucus about the possibility of JFAC
>>> (Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee) passing a surplus
eliminator
>>> resolution during the next two week. The surplus eliminator sets up
>>> the mechanism to trigger surplus funds (if they exist) to priority
>>> areas after July 1st. The senario with the state employee salary
>>> increase is the following: the economic situation improves during the
>>> next four months and once we reach the level of $25,000,000 in the
rainy
>>> day fund the accumulation after that July 1st would go to the priority
>>> area of salaries.
>>>
>>> The economy will need to improve for this to happen, and potential
>>> flooding will need to be minimized. The economic projections at this
>>> time are not favorable, but we must get the resolution in place to
>>> at least set up the opportunity.
>>>
>>> Rep. Ken Robison, a JFAC member, is developing the resolution, and
>>> I have talked to him about it. I've talked with Bob Geddes, JFAC
>>> Co-chair about the resolution. Dan Mader, District 7, is on JFAC and
>>> will support the resolution. This week I'm writing up the
justification
>>> (utilizing many state employee letters) and I will share this with
>>> all JFAC members in order to gain support for the resolution.
>>>
>>> 6. HIGHER EDUCATION
>>>
>>> I don't expect any major problems for Higher Education when the
>>> general budget comes to the floor. We've basically managed to get
>>> the funding for the biotech building, $802,000 for the UI for teaching
>>> and learning programs on the campus and across the state, and an
>>> additional $250,000 for the College of Agriculture for critical needs.
>>> We certainly do not want to see another holdback taking place this
>>> year. Marty Peterson, UI Advisor in Boise, deserves major credit
>>> for the reinstatement of the $802,000 in the budget.
>>>
>>> Ben Rush, U.I. Student Lobbyist, has done an excellent job with the
>>> license plate concept to raise funds from Alumni for scholarships
>>> and essential programs. He worked out an agreement with the Idaho
>>> Potato Commission. If the bill passes, Alumni would pay $40 for
>>> license that would have the Idaho Vandal in the upper left hand side
>>> of the license. BSU and ISU alumni would have the same opportuntiy.
>>> We are awaiting the bill on the house side of the floor.
>>>
>>> 7. PROPERTY TAX RELIEF
>>>
>>> The one message that we heard during the campaign was, "I want
>>> property tax relief but I also want to enjoy the same level of
>>> services provided by the county and the state." I developed a
>>> draft resolution for a county/city option tax to provide for
>>> property tax relief. This would have been a tax shift with an
>>> increase in the sales tax. As a freshman, I soon learned, there
>>> were at least 7-8 other tax bill out there being developed, for
>>> example, by Frank Bruneel and Maynard Miller. I'm supporting
>>> both or either of their proposals.
>>>
>>> The House Revenuse and Tax Committee simply does not want to
>>> approve any tax bill this year. This is in line with their campaign
>>> promises not raise taxes.
>>>
>>> Fortunately, Frank Bruneel is pushing ahead with his property tax
>>> relief. His bill would raise the sales tax by 1.25 cents to pay for
>>> taking 1.25 cents to pay for taking $140 millon in school
>>>maintenance and
>>> operation levies off property tax. This shift would still insure a
>>> good balance in the tax pie structure. It would increase sales
>>> tax's share of state and local taxes from 28 percent to 32cent and
>>> reduce the property tax's share from 30 to 25 percent. The only
>>> possibility that this proposal will be voted out of committee is with
>>> the addition of the provision that it will be placed on the ballot
>>> as a referendum for the voters in 98. This is a good bill.
>>>
>>> Rep. Miller's bill would raise the sales tax by one-half cents and
>>> impose the sales tax on some services. This bill will not get out of
>>> committee and will undergo further study this year. Both of these
>>> representatives deserve credit for trying to develop a property tax
>>> relief plan as promised in the election.
>>>
----------
Greg Brown (gregb@siu.edu)
Asst. Professor, Dept. of Forestry
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901
(618) 453-7465