Rep. Trail's Legislative Newsletter IV--February 1-6

[Tom Trail <RepTrail@infotrail.com>]

Legislative Newsletter IV--February 1-6, 1999

There are a number of important legislative bills being introduced. 

This past week I spent some time with the Moscow Chamber of Commerce group.
Marilyn Howard, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Gov. Dirk
Kempthorne spoke to the group on two different occasions. 

Please feel free to contact me at 
Boise evenings: mjmaxwell@juno.com 
Boise daytime: ttrail@house.state.id.us 
Weekends (Moscow): ttrail@moscow.com

1. Highway 95-- Gov. Kempthorne addressed one of the top Chamber priorities
in reporting that Idaho will received an additional $60,000,000/year for
the next six years to repair Idaho roads. Highway 95 is now a federally
rated priority highway and will be eligible for additional funds. Work will
start this year or next on the 13 miles stretch north of Worley and the
Sandcreek bypass in Sandpoint. The four lane highway from Moscow to Genesee
will probably be under construction in another two-three years.

2. EMT Bill-- Rep. Hornbeck's EMT bill passed the House today by a 37-25
vote. If approved through the legislative process, more than $4,000,000
will be raised to assist rural EMT units purchase new ambulances and
equipment. The money will be raised by increasing the cost of a driver's
license by $4.00. There is strong support from many of the rural areas.

3. PERSI-- The three PERSI bills to improve the state employees retirement
fund were approved by the House Commerce and Human Resource Committee by a
9-3 vote to print. The public hearing on the bills will be held February
17th at 1:30 p.m. Rep. Bert Marley and I will be introducing the bills in
committee. To date I've received over 850 phone calls and faxes in support
of the bills. We anticipate a meeting with the Gov. or his aides this week
to assess Governor Kempthorne's position on the bill. The PERSI fund has
about a $500,000,000 positive balance and the retirement enhancements could
be made at no cost to the taxpayers.

4. Term Limits-- A number of ideas are still floating around the
legislature regarding term limits. One bill would completely abolish term
limits and another would allow citizens in counties to vote term limits in
or out for local officials. The inquires received so far by our Dist. 5
legislators in the House indicate support for eliminating term limits. The
discussion on this topic will heat up in the next several weeks.

5. Children's Immunizations-- Blue Cross of Idaho which insures a quarter
of the state's residents, will give free immunizations to every child it
covers starting in March. This is a significant boost for the Governor's
immunization initiative and if fully implemented would raise the percentage
of Idaho children immunized from 72 to 77 percent.

6. Reading Initiative-- The House Education Committee voted to schedule
public hearings on plans to test kids on their reading skills, update
educators on research based teaching methods, and schedule special summer
classes for students with reading problems. There appears to be widespread
support for the reading initiative; however, legislators and Superintendent
of Public Instruction, Marilyn Howard, want specific information on where
the funds for the $4.500,000 effort will come from. About $1 million can
come from the Dept. of Education budget; however, the Governor has
indicated that the remainder of the money will have to come from the
Education Department's discretionary funds. Many school districts already
count on these funds for books, supplies, and partially for teacher's salaries.

7. Head Start-- We will be making an attempt to pass enabling legislation
to fund Head Start from state funds at about the $500,000 level. There are
some carry over funds in Health and Welfare that might become available.

8.Fish and Game-- The Fish and Game Department is requesting additional
funding from state revenues. The Director points to a recent poll
indicating that over 60% of Idaho citizens support this position. I have
received a number of communications from Dist. 5 constituents also
indicating support for some state funds being utilized to support Fish and
Game.

9. Recycling-- I'm proposing a bill that would give state agencies the
option of granting a 5 percent purchasing preference for recycled content
materials. The bill was approved for printing, and the hearing will be
scheduled for next week.

10. Minimum Wage for Farm Workers-- Rep. Doug Jones introduced a bill to
require farm workers to be receive the minimum wage. 
It is patterned after the Oregon law. Rep. Ken Robison and I are
co-sponsors of similar bill--HB 79. Hearing on both bills are scheduled for
Feb 18th.

11. HB 80-- Tax Credits for Educational facilities and industrial
parks--Rep. Jim Clark is introducing legislation which would grant
individual tax credits of $100 for individuals and up to $1,000 for
corporations for donations made for educational facilities and research
parks.These are some of the highlights from week IV. I'd appreciate your
comments and suggestions.  You can contact me:




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


Rep. Trail/District 5