Rep. Trail's Legislative Update #7, Feb 28-March 3, 2000

[Tom Trail <RepTrail@infotrail.com>]

To: reptrail@infotrail.com Subject: Rep. Trail's Legislative Update 7, Feb.
28-March 3, 2000 Cc: 


Tax cutting proposals continue to dominate the Idaho Legislature. The
latest proposal from the House is a $41 million tax cut package. JFAC is at
a standstill in setting budgets until the tax cut issue moves forward. I've
received 35 communiqués from constituents regarding this issue -- one
favoring tax cuts and 34 against tax cuts and for investing the money in
public and higher education. The tax proposal from the House side will be
all inclusive. I would vote for the marital tax deduction as a matter of
fairness, but since a series of tax cuts will be all under one bill, I will
vote against the bill as being short sighted and in lacking proper
stewardship of our State's priorities.

1. School Facilities -- Judge Deborah Ball notified the State that she has
scheduled the trial for school facilities to start on March 7th. She noted
that the great age of this case convinces me that the public's interest is
best served by going forward. One of the guiding principles in her decision
will be the Supreme Court's determination that the state has a
responsibility to ensure that all public school students are educated in a
safe environment conducive to learning. This is also evidence that student
safety is also covered by the 14th Amendment -- equal protection under the law.

     The Legislature is introducing a package of three bills which it hopes
will convince the judge that it is doing all it can to ensure a safe
learning environment for students. One piece which passed the House
Education Committee on Friday, gives the state authority to close schools
that inspections show pose an imminent safety hazard. Another bill would
establish a $20 million low interest revolving loan fund that districts
could tap into after exhausting all other resources. A third is a proposal
for $50 million in commercial loans that could be repaid with so called
discretionary money.
  
     Sen. Schroeder introduced legislation last week which would have asked
voters how they feel about lowering the school bond supermajority and if
the public would favor an increase in the sales tax to help with school
construction. Both measures were overwhelmingly defeated in committee. I
introduced similar legislation the previous two years on the House side and
suffered similar defeats. A recent national poll indicates that 74% of the
voters think the state should help pay for school construction and 85%
would approve raising the sales tax for school construction. Is the
Legislature out of step with Idaho citizens?
With a significant surplus this year, the Legislature had a golden
opportunity to develop a proposal to directly aid school districts on a
matching basis to help with school facilities. I believe that there is a
good chance that the courts will make the decision for us. It cost the
State of Arizona about $400 million when the courts made the decision. If
the courts in Idaho find against the State we'll be talking about tax
increases.

2. Minimum Wage for Farm Workers -- HB 500 comes up in the House Ag
Committee on Monday. USDA studies indicate that 6,000 of 35,000 farm
workers are not paid the minimum wage. Reps. Robison, Beiter, and I are the
co-sponsors of the bill. Until we treat our largely Hispanic population of
farm workers fairly, Idaho's image will suffer.

3. Head Start -- Sen. Clyde Boatright, JFAC member, informed me Friday that
he felt JFAC would okay the $1.5 million from TANF funds for Head Start.
This is excellent news.

4. Recycling Legislation -- The House by a margin of 45-17 passed Sen.
Schroeder's and my bill that would allow state agencies on a voluntary
basis to pay up to a 5% preference to purchase recycled paper products. The
bill goes on to the Senate.

5. Anti-spamming legislation -- my bill to help prevent the sending of
unrequested obscene and annoying e-mails passed the House by a 62-1. It
will be carried in the Senate by Sen. Schroeder.

6. Privatization of Idaho Public TV--This legislation will be brought to
the House Education Committee. It calls for an establishment of an Interim
Committee to study the proposal. I will oppose it.

7. HB 503 -- This is the proposed $4.4 million fee increase bill. I will
oppose the bill until a completed fiscal and management audit is conducted
of the Department. A partial audit indicates major fiscal management
problems in the Department.

8. HB 521 -- Incentive Scholarship Program -- This bill would encourage
Idaho high school students interested in going to college by offering
$1,000 scholarships. The bill would require recipients to have a 2.5 GPA or
an ACT score of 20 in high school and would provide two $500 per semester
scholarships. A similar bill is being proposed by Sen. Lee. A major
difference is that under his bill the requirement would be 3.0. Both bills
are patterned under the HOPE Scholarship Program developed in Georgia.




Rep. Trail, district 5

 I would like constituents to e-mail, phone, fax, or write me with their
ideas, comments and recommendations.  

by phone: (at the House Communications Center)

208-332-1000 switchboard
208-332-1202 desk
208-334-5397  (fax)

by email:

ttrail@house.state.id.us      My email in Boise
infocntr@lso.state.id.us      Information desk at the Capitol
            
Address:

Rep. Tom Trail
Idaho State Legislature
State Capitol Building
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0038

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