Legislative Newsletter IV - Jan 27-Feb 1, 2002

[RepTrail <RepTrail@infotrail.com>]

Legislative Newsletter IV - Jan 27-Feb 1, 2002

It's been a hectic week at the Capitol.  Rep. Francis Field introduced a 
bill in the House Ag Affairs Committee that would have us name the spud as 
Idaho's official vegetable.  Representatives from the Treasure Valley 
report deep concern and distress in certain governmental quarters that the 
State Capitol was not listed on the Al Queda hard-drives as a top priority 
terrorist target.  It probably wasn't listed because it is 100% secure.

2. Transportation  --  Region 2 Transportation Commissioner Bruce Sweeney 
dropped by.  He said that a public hearing on the Moscow-Genesee 4-lane 
highway route would be held in late spring.  A final decision will probably 
be made in May by the Department of Transportation.

3. Term Limits  --  Governor Kempthorne vetoed the term limits bill on 
Thursday and the House and Senate over rode the veto on Friday.  The vote 
was 50-20 in the House and 26-9 in the Senate.  Rep. Gary Young voted 
against the repeal of the term limits law, and I voted to overturn term 
limits.  No doubt, we will have an initiative drive to put term limits back 
on the ballot for the fall.

4. S1305  --  Sen. Schroeder and I co-sponsored this bill which would have 
again allowed the state to advertise the Children's Health Insurance 
Program funded by a Medicaid 80% match to the State's 20%.  Twenty four 
people testified in favor of the bill, but the bill lost in Committee by a 
5-2 vote.  The state is finding that more and more children are eligible 
for the CHIPS program as our unemployment rate increases.  The state is 
only using about 37% of the available Medicaid funds.  Many families not 
knowing about the CHIPs Program take their children directly to Emergency 
Rooms.  Treatment is very expensive and the taxpayer picks up the bill in 
most cases.  Children who are covered by the insurance can be taken care of 
when medical problems emerge.  The CHIPs program saves the taxpayer money 
over the long run.

5. Education  --  The House Education Committee agreed to support a $933 
million K-12 public education budget and send the recommendation to 
JFAC.  This option would transfer $9.1 million from the Budget 
Stabilization Fund to the General Fund and eliminate the second 
holdback.  The second major component would be to pass a $13,994,500 
supplemental, and in July direct the first $9.1 million in angel money to 
be deposited in the Budget Stabilization Fund as reimbursement.

The Department of Education recommends taking out the line items for Gifted 
and Talented, Grants for Innovative Teachers, and reducing the amount for 
the Idaho Reading Initiative (i.e. zero funding).  I protested against 
taking out the funds for gifted and talented programs, and I'm certain JFAC 
will receive a great deal of calls and correspondence to restore the funding.

6. Budgets  --  Governor Kempthorne has recommended taking some funding for 
K-12 education from the Budget Stabilization Fund, and about $3.5 million 
from the Capitol Restoration Fund for HB325  --  to pay interest for 
schools with critical building needs whose patrons pass the needed plant 
facilities levy.  These are good first steps, but additional monies are 
available in the Budget Stabilization Fund and the Capitol Restoration Fund 
that could be tapped for education as well as the almost $19 million 
Tobacco settlement payment coming in April.  There will be a bill 
introduced that calls for a holdback of 50% on individual income tax rebate 
component of the tax cuts passed last session.

8. Webpage  --  I've posted position papers on three bills that I'm 
introducing on my legislative update page www.infotrail.com/idaho under the 
position papers link (These papers outline in detail thoughts on Idaho Fair 
Elections, the Squaw bill, and the Amendment to protect hunting and fishing 
rights of Idaho Sportsmen.

Please contact me with your concerns and comments. My e mail is 
ttrail@house.state.id.us and phone 332-1202.

Rep. Tom Trail/Dist. 5