Legislative Reflections on the 2000 session - Rep. Trail

[Tom Trail <RepTrail@infotrail.com>]

                                  LEGISLATIVE REFLECTIONS

     The legislative chamber is empty.   We finally finished our session
after 86 days  --  the fourth longest in Idaho history.   This newsletter
is a reflective review about these last 86 days.

     E-mail is a wonderful means of communicating with constituents.  I
received over 2,500 e-mail messages, and sent out about that many.  E-mail
enables constituent input on the many issues that face us in the
Legislature and it allows me to quickly communicate with constituents on an
individual basis who have individual questions and concerns.  It also
allows for periodic updating through spot news items and newsletters to
constituents.   I found that my homepage also receives a great deal of
traffic.  I can post position papers on issues with greater detail.

     I've received more traffic this year from high school students in
government classes and I've helped them in researching and exploring
various Idaho legislative issues.  A junior at Boise High School and I
corresponded six times on the topics of public TV funding and censorship.

     I've been asked how I fared this session with the legislation I
sponsored.  Amazingly, even with three weeks out for open heart surgery (my
doctors have given me an A-O.K. on my recovery) 7 bills and resolutions
that I sponsored or co-sponsored were passed' into law.  These include:

1.  PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEM (PERSI)  HB’s 510 and 511 provide for
the allocation of the extraordinary gains of the fund to retirees, active
members, and employers, and 511 increases the multiplier from 1.93 to 2.0
percent.  This means that starting July 1, 2000, retirees will note a 4.3%
increase in their checks.  The two bills will benefit some 60,000 state
employees including teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, and
other groups of employees covered by PERSI.  I was with Governor Kempthorne
yesterday along with 200 people including legislators and state employees
at the signing ceremony.  Rep. Maynard Miller deserves a great deal of
credit for much of the development of the legislation.

2.  PROMISE SCHOLARSHIPS  --  I co-sponsored this legislation in the House
along with Sen. Robert Lee.   The Promise Scholarship enabling legislation
was passed.  We will be going after the funding for the program from either
the Millennium Fund or the General Fund this next year.  The program will
offer high school graduates who graduate with a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.0 a
$500 scholarship for each semester of the first two years of their post
secondary program at an Idaho institution.  We estimate that about 5,000
students/year will be eligible for the program.  Many Idaho post secondary
institutions will match the scholarships.  Home schoolers and students from
private schools are also eligible.  They have to score at least 20 on the
ACT.  I was with the Governor yesterday when he signed the legislation into
law.

3.  HB 572  --  RECYCLING  --  It took us 3 years to get this bill through
the Senate.  It is a simple bill which allows state agencies to pay a 5%
premium price to purchase recycled paper products.  The intent of the
legislation is to encourage state agencies to purchase recycled paper
products.  Seventy percent of the paper products that King County uses are
of a recycled nature.  Because of the high demand in King County for
recycled products, the County saved $500,000 last year.  This bill had its
origin in District 5 with the Moscow Environmental and Health Commission
and the leadership of Relene Johnson.  Sen. Schroeder and I worked closely
with the Association of Idaho Recyclers in advancing the bill through the
legislative process.

4.  CONSUMER PROTECTION  --  The Attorney General's Office has selected two
pieces of consumer protection legislation as their selection of outstanding
legislation for a special signing ceremony with the Governor.  These are:

a)  VICTIM IDENTITY THEFT  --  HELPING VICTIMS TO MORE QUICKLY RE-ESTABLISH
THEIR CREDIT RATING.   The idea for this bill was conveyed to me by a
constituent in District 5.  Thieves stole his mail from his mail box and
managed to get his social security number.  It took him over two years to
get his credit rating cleared up.  This bill puts stringent requirements on
credit bureaus and reporting agencies to assist the victim of identity
theft re-establish their credit.  To-date, it has been the victim rather
than the credit bureaus who have had to try and clear up their own records.
 Once a victim of identity theft has filed a certified police report with
the credit bureau, then the credit bureau has 30 days to investigate and
then block the negative aspects of the poor credit rating.

b) ANTI-SPAMMING  --  Many of us who use e-mail have been the victims of
Spamming, the computer equivalent of junk mail, in which unsolicited
e-mail’s with no return address’s can rapidly swamp our inbox’s with
endless annoying, intrusive, and offensive messages. A number of parents
have complained to me that their children are receiving unsolicited hard
core pornographic messages via Spam.  School districts, business’s,
universities, and private citizens are continually bombarded: clogging up
their networks, tying up their phone lines (modems), and generally wasting
their time.  A University of Idaho Professor approached me with the idea
for legislation to regulate unsolicited email.  Victims of unsolicited
e-mail messages can now contact the Consumer Protection Agency of the Idaho
Attorney General's Office for assistance.  Civil damages can be sought, and
penalties up to $1,000 per unsolicited message can be assessed.  

 5.HCR 37--ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INTERIM COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE ISSUE OF
MINIMUM WAGE FOR FARM WORKERS.  Reps. Beiter, Robison, and I introduced two
bills this session.  The first was to raise the minimum wage for farm
workers to $5.15/hr and the second was to register farm labor contractors.
Although we lost the battle in the Ag Committee, we managed to get a
Interim Committee funded to study the issues and propose legislation for
the next session.  Only three of 15 committee requests were funded, and the
HCR 37 was rated the top priority.  By not paying our farm workers the
minimum wage,  we establish a class of citizens who are economically
deprived.  This is not fair, and it doesn't help Idaho's image out.  I will
be serving on the committee.

 Constituents often ask me about my "Legislative Score Card", and I thought
this would be a good way to wrap up the session.   The fact that three of
the bills came to my attention from District 5 constituents and were
finally enacted into law is significant.



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