johnt
On Thursday, March 05, 1998 8:20 PM, Marjorie J Maxwell [SMTP:mjmaxwell@juno.com] wrote:
> Visionaries--This is the 8th legislative newsletter. Speaker Simpson
> still is holding to a 20th of March wrapup for the Legislature. We are
> debating and making
> decisions on 20-30 bills a day. Sometimes I feel that we need a bit
> more time--
> maybe a week to really study and discuss the impact of some of the
> legislation.
>
> Rep. Maynard Miller, Sen. Gary Schroeder, and I can be reached at: Tel:
> 208-332-1000/e-mail--infocntr@lso.state.id.us or fax 208-334-5397. My
> evening
> e mail is mjmaxwell@juno.com
>
> 1. 60% SCHOOL BOND ELECTION BILL DEFEATED--This bill presented by
> Rep. Fred Tilman, Rep. Donna Boe, and myself was defeated in State
> Affairs (my guess would be on a 11-10 vote). The bill if passed
> as a
> Constitutional Amendment on the November ballot would have allowed
> school districts to select the primary and general election dates
> only
> if they went for the 60% target. Since 1990 there have been 143
> bond
> elections in Idaho. A total of 98 have been unsuccessful.
> Since 1995
> 20 bond elections have failed although they all achieved higher
> than a
> 60% turnout. The latest is the Wilder School District election
> where they
> failed to get the 2/3rds vote by 3 votes. Governor Batt lent
> strong support to
> this election.
>
> We presented this bill as one part of a number of potential
> solutions. We
> still have a great backlog of facilitiy improvements and building
> to catch up
> on. Reps. Jim Clark and Dennis Lake estimate we have a backlog of
> $350,000,000 in school construction and the Department of Education
> estimates a total of over $700,000,000. There was excellent
> testimony at
> the hearing, and we will be drafting an improved version for next
> year.
>
> 2. HIGHWAY 95 BILL--This bill should be looked at as an entire state
> transportation
> bill. I talked with Sen. Evan Frasure (Chair of the Senate
> Transportation
> Committee) this afternoon. He reported the bill had been amended
> and
> passed by the Commitee, and was now on the Senate Floor for
> debate.
> AAA, IACI, several insurance companies and the Boise Chamber of
> Commerce all support the bill. Jim Dalton, U. of I. student
> lobbyist spoke
> up about the safety concerns of Highway 95. The next two weeks
> will tell the tale.
>
> 3. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKING COLLEGE CREDITS--This excellent
> bill sponsored by Rep. Wayne Meyer smooths out the laws allowing
> high school students to take college courses. The bill would
> insure
> that school districts maintain their funding level for juniors and
> seniors
> who leave campus to attend colelge classes. The bill goes to the
> Senate.
>
> 4. SCHOOL FACILITIES INTERIUM COMMITTEE--The Senate passed a
> resolution calling for an interim study on school facilities. The
> resolution
> now goes to the House.
>
> 5. SCHOOL BOND CONSOLIDATION--Sen. John Sandy's bill could possibly
> save millions in interest on school construction bonds if the state
> guaranteed
> the bonds. This bill cleared committee and will be voted on by
> the Senate.
> If the bill becomes law every school district in the state that
> issues a
> construction bond would have a AAA bond rating--which could mean a
> lower
> interest rate. No school district has ever defaulted on a bond.
> This looks
> like an excellent bill to help school districts and it won't cost
> the state a cent.
>
> 6. LIMITING MINORS ACCESS TO TOBACCO--This bill is sponsored by the
> PTA and would make it tougher for minors to get tobacco. The bill
> would
> require retailers to place tobacco products out of customer reach
> and would
> ban tobacco vending machines and would fine employees who sell
> tobacco to minors. There is strong pressure from the Tobacco
> Lobby
> to amend the bill.
>
> 7. BEER AND WINE TAX BILLS--All three bills introduced which would have
> used taxes to fund treatment and substance abuse education programs
> failed.
>
> 8. HELP FOR DISABLED VETERANS--The House passed a bill and sent it
> to the Senate allowing veterans with at least a 40% service related
> disability to exclude that income from consideration for a property
> tax credit.
> This could enable an additional 3,000 veterans to qualify.
>
> 9. FUNDING FOR LOCAL EMERGENCY SERVICES--Rep. Hornbeck's bill
> was approved by the House Transportation Committee. The bill will
> hike
> driver's license by $4 to pay for ambulances and equipment of
> emergecy
> medical services at the local level. This would generate about
> $910,000
> and allow the purchase of 54 emergency vehicles and equipment.
> This is
> an excellent bill for our rural areas.
>
> 10.PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION BILL--A bill which would have subsidized
> public transporation for basically rural areas of the state failed
> in the
> House by a 32 to 38 vote. Rep. Miller and I voted for the bill
>
> 11.FINAL FLOOD ACCOUNTING--The final cost for highways, etc. for the
> floods of the past two years amounted to almost $107 million. Of
> this
> the federal government payed about $96 million and the State $9
> million.
>
> Rep. Tom Trail/Dist. 5
>
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