Legislative Update from Rep. Tom Trail

[Tom Trail <RepTrail@infotrail.com>]

Dear Visionaries:

I’ve made it through the second legislative week recovering from my heart
attack, and keeping out of the legislative strife.  I'll be going back
early this coming week and starting to get back to work.  I want to thank
Dr. Maynard Miller who has so ably filled in for me during the past two
weeks.  He has taken on some major responsibilities in moving ahead with
the No Cost PERSI Retirement Equity Bill and a Recycling Bill.

In this second Legislative Letter I will address some issues that are may
not be receiving headline coverage today, and I'd like to outline the
essense of several bills that I plan to introduce.

1.     Idaho Tax Commission Targets Garage Sales and Children's Lemonade
Stands.  I received a number of complaints from constitutents when several
articles about the Idaho Tax Commissions "aggressive" efforts were
published in the Spokesman-Review.  Philip M. Aldape, Administrator of the
Audit and Collections Division, responded to my letter.  The full letter
can be viewed on my home page www.infotrail.com/idaho/idaho.html  

     Mr. Aldape pointed out that the current tax law exempts individuals
from responsibility for sales tax on two garage/yard sales per year, and
that it further exempts proceeds received by religious organizations if
sales are made to only their members and sales tax was paid on the property
being sold when it was purchased or the property was acquired as a gift.

     Last year the legislature authorized more than 40 new positions for
the Tax Commission. Much of the work of the new positions is focused on
out-of-state businesses that are operating in Idaho and enhancing our
ability to collect taxes which are already due.  Mr. Aldape reports that
during the first six months of the budget year the 40 new employees have
produced an additional $7.3 million in new revenues and will probably meet
the target of $12 million by June 30, 1999.  The Tax Commission certainly
should be complimented for carrying out the legislative intent of the new
law.  Still the Commission estimates that about $200 million in taxes go
unpaid in the State each year.  Nationally, citizens who do not pay their
taxes cost the average taxpayer about $1,650/year (Time Magazine).

2.     Victim Identity Theft .   I am co-sponsoring two Victim Identity
Theft bills with the Attorney General’s Office.  Identity theft can
literally steal your life away.  In today's world of easy credit and
computer transactions, thieves have more opportunities to steal and misuse
the identity of unsuspecting individuals.  They have advanced from stealing
identification from wallets and receipts to assuming someone's identity
through pre-approved credit applications and accessing personal information
stored in computer databases.  The FTC reported that individual thieves and
organized identity theft rings are now using more sophisticated theft
schemes, even taking low level jobs with financial institutions to gain
access to consumer credit reports.

     Until very recently, most state laws would not recognize a consumer as
a victim of a crime.  Instead fraud laws treat the creditors as the victims
because they incurred the financial loss.  The two bills that the Attorney
General's Office and I will introduce will give legal recourse to victims.
Using someone else's personal identifying information (i.e. name, Social
Security number, address, date of birth or mother's maiden name) in order
to obtain something of value would be a crime.  Both criminal and civil
penalities are outlined in the proposed legislation.

     We also propose to help consumers cleanse their credit reports of the
perpetrators' crime.  Victims must go through the time consuming process
of: a) trying to prove to lenders and credit reporting agencies that they
were in fact victimized by identity theft and did not personally incur or
authorize the perpetrator’s charges; b) having erroneous information
removed from their credit report; and c) preventing the perpetrator’s
future activities from further damaging their records.

     Identity theft is estimated by one source to be a $3 billion/year
business.  Several District 5 citizens have been victimized, as well as
former Rep. Kitty Gurnsey.  Someone in California tried to steal Attorney
General Al Lance's identity.  We hope that the passage of these two
proposed laws will help protect Idaho consumers.

3.    Telemarketing  How many of us have been rudely interrupted at
dinnertime by a telemarketer?  The Senate State Affairs Committee agreed to
introduce legislation that would let you get your name on a no-solicitaton
list maintained by the State Attorney General's Office.  For $10 you would
stay on the list for three years.  Telemarketers would be required to
consult the list.  If they slipped up it could cost them of fine of $5,000.

4.    Anti-Spamming Legislation  I've received complaints from many
constituents about the unsolicited ads they have to wade through in order
to get their e-mail messages.  I am working with the Attorney General's
office to see if we can develop a legislative initiative to help limit this
problem.

     This week's emphasis has been on consumer protection initiatives.
Next week I'll shift back to topics ranging from taxes to education.
District 5 constituents can reach me with their comments, recommendations,
suggestions, etc. by any of the following means:





by mail:

Idaho State Legislature,
State Capitol Bldg
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0038.

by phone: (at the House Communications Center)

208-332-1000  (phone)
208-334-5397  (fax)

or by email at:

Boise daytime:           ttrail@house.state.id.us
Boise evening:            mjmaxwell@juno.com
Moscow (weekends):   ttrail@moscow.com

if uncertain, you can email to RepTrail@infotrail.com and your message will
be forwarded to me at the proper location.

Legislative newsletters and additional materials and information can be
located on my web
and home page http://www.infotrail.com/idaho/idaho.html