The activities in the Legislature are picking up. On Friday we passed
15 bills in
the House and we are now going into afternoon sessions. However, the
Idaho House will not attempt to pass 109 bills in one day as did the
House in
Olympia last week. That is a good way to let bad legislation get
through. This
week I received 145 e-mails. My e mail in Boise is mjmaxwell@
juno.com
and my desk phone number is 332-1216.
1. HB 619--This was the Idaho Fish and Game Revenue Enhancement $6.00
Fee increase for deer and elk tags. This bill passed 42-26 and
now goes
to the Senate.
2. HB623--increasing truck weights up to 129,000 pounds on selected
roads
in the state. The bill has been amended to allow for
demonstration tests
only on Interstate Roads. Many legislators in South Idaho are
opposed.
I've had more citizen comments and input on this than any other
issue--
score 38 opposed and 0 in support--a very clear message.
Some national survey data is interesting. The Idaho Emergency
Nurses
Association reports that while large trucks account for only 3% of
the
licensed vehicles on the road, they are involved in 21% of the
accidents.
The Idaho Chief's of Police Association and the Idaho Peace
Officers
oppose the bill. They stress the damage to infrastructure and
safety
problems. This will be coming up for a vote in the House late
this week.
3. HB 714--This is a workers' compensation bill providing minimum
income
benefits for total disability for seasonal workers. The bill
passed with a
Do Pass from the House Human Resources Committee. This is a good
bill covering workers previously outside of the system.
4. HB 730--PERSI Retirement Enhancement Bill--This bill sponsored by
Rep.
Maynard Miller and Sen. John Andreason would reduce early
retirement
penalties under the PERSI Program. I talked with Ben Jenness,
Head of
the equivalent program at WSU. Ben says this would be an
excellent program
to help both recruit and retain state employees. There would be
no cost to
the state. However, everything hinges on if the Governor will
support it.
5. TALENTED AND GIFTED LEGISLATION--The bill to raise a $500,000 for a
dedicated fund to support gifted and talented programs was voted
down by
the House Revenue and Tax Committee. They did not support the
proposed
funding mechanism.
I am meeting with the Department of Education tomorrow and will go
in front
of JFAX on Wednesday morning to support our case. I'm not very
optimistic
because the Governor did not support the gifted and talented line
item in
his budget.
6. 60% MINIMAJORITY FOR SCHOOL BONDS--Rep. Donna Boe and Rep. Fred
Tilman, and I are presenting this bill for printing in the House
Education
Committee tomorrow. The legislation is a constitutional
amendment which
would have to pass both Chambers by a 2/3rds vote to go on the
ballot.
The legislation would allow school districts to hold bond elections
(at the 60%
level) at either the primary or general election dates. This
would encourage
higher voter turnout and be more reflective of the perspective of
the district
voters. We hope to get the bill printed and scheduled for a
hearing in
State Affairs. The odds of getting this bill through this year
are not great.
7. SB 1376-PATIENT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT--This bill passed the
Senate on a 31-2 vote and will soon some to the House. This bill
creates a
program that will require providers to submit professional
profiles, based on
16 points of information contained in the bill, to their
respective boards at the
time they apply for their annual license renewal. This
information will, in turn,
be available to patients through the appropriate licensing board,
or individual
profiles will be available at the provider's office.
8. HB 644 TERM LIMITS--The House voted 43-24 late Friday in favor of
H644 which
would allow Idaho voters next November to cast an advisory ballot
on ballot
on whether to keep or reject the current term limits law. Many
voters did not
realize that the 1994 initiative affected all elected offices as
far down as school
board trustees, and the Legislature wants an advisory from the
citizens.
Personally I'd prefer to see to advisories on the ballot--one for
state legislators
and the other for local officials.
9. HEADSTART--This bill was passed last week by the Senate Education
Committee and will be up for a vote on the floor of the Senate.
10. CHARTER SCHOOLS--This legislation will be sent out to the Senate this
week. I suspect there will be quick approval and the bill will
be signed by
the Governor. Preliminary plans are already underway to create
charter
schools in Boise and Eastern Idaho.
11. TUFTS UNIVERSITY WELFARE STUDY--This recently released study
places Idaho 36th among the 36 states studied. The study
indicated that
welfare policies have been a adopted that are more harmful to the
economic
security of the poor than the old welfare system. Governor Batt
said that
"Anybody can make a report and draw conclusions by setting their
own
criteria." Governor added that Idaho may have been singled out
because it
only provides welfare benefits for two years during a recipient's
lifetime.
Idaho's program was criticized for lack of job training programs
that help
families become self sufficient and the $276 montly allowance is
said by
many to be too little to support a family.
Rep. Tom Trail/District 5
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