Category archive - Uncategorized

IDP Chairman: Thanks to Democratic Primary Candidates

Posted on May 17, 2012 in Uncategorized 0 Comments

While pundits study results of the primary election, one outcome is clear: Idaho voters have responsible Democratic candidates to vote for this fall. These are serious candidates who want to give our students the best possible future, to build and maintain strong communities, to restore ethics in government, and to help create good jobs in Idaho.

“I want to congratulate and thank the Democratic candidates who ran in the primary election. Across the state, good, hardworking people have stepped forward to bring balance back to Idaho’s government,” said Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Larry Grant. “These Democratic candidates are standing up to an arrogant GOP supermajority that has defunded education and shaken our trust in government.”

We all watched for the outcomes of a bitter GOP primary fight that required Idahoans to declare political affiliation for the first time. But, surviving GOP candidates should not take their victories as a vote of approval.

“In many Republican races, voters saw a choice between someone they were angry with versus someone they were scared of,” Grant said. “Republicans who prevailed, by and large, are the same people who cut education funding and who have treated state government like it is their own private club.”

Democratic Primary Election Is Open to ALL

Posted on May 10, 2012 in Uncategorized 5 Comments

Meridian, Idaho—Despite a $200,000 information campaign by the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office regarding the new closed primary election, there remains confusion.

To clarify, absolutely anyone can vote in the Idaho Democratic primary elections next Tuesday. If you choose to be unaffiliated – essentially retaining your right to be a truly independent voter – you can vote in the Idaho Democratic primary election. Just ask for the Democratic ballot after you have declared that you are unaffiliated.

Also, if you choose to affiliate as a Republican, Constitutionalist, Libertarian, Democrat –and, again, unaffiliated – you can request and vote the Democratic ballot.

Republicans are the only party that is choosing to be exclusionary. They will only let registered Republicans vote in the Republican primary. They sued the state to impose this restriction on Idaho voters, and they succeeded.

“Republicans closed their primary election in an effort to purify their ranks and purge moderate and reasonable candidates,” said Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Larry Grant. “Thank Republicans for the confusion and angst among voters. Democrats respect that Idaho voters pride themselves on independence and respect their desire for privacy in the voting booth. We welcome all to vote in the Democratic primary.”

Healthcare Letter to the Editor

Posted on Feb 28, 2012 in Uncategorized

Politics before people

Received Feb. 21

Much information has been in the news lately about health insurance exchanges. Some folks favor them and some are against them. The bottom line is there are thousands of uninsured people in Idaho who need access to affordable health care. Most people recognize the need to have health care for their family. The Idaho Legislature can provide them access by establishing a health insurance exchange. But the reports from Boise indicate that Republicans are not supporting health insurance exchanges. They don’t want health insurance exchanges because they don’t want the federal government meddling in Idaho affairs. Herein lies the problem. Aren’t they doing the same thing to us they claim the federal government is doing? They are deciding uninsured citizens don’t need access to affordable health insurance. But, the issue that should have people up in arms is this: Many of these same Republican legislators, who are denying people the opportunity to obtain health care, themselves have publicly funded health care in the form of Medicare or Blue Cross insurance, like state employees who have to work more than four months a year. What is wrong with this picture? Why aren’t uninsured people storming the capital with torches and pitchforks demanding access to affordable health care as Republicans continue to put politics before people. (Word count: 214)

Carrie Crom

Idaho Falls

Frank & Bethine Church Weekend & Gala Weekend Agenda

Posted on Feb 13, 2012 in Uncategorized

FCB SCC Potluck

Posted on Feb 13, 2012 in Uncategorized

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AT THE NEW

IDAHO DEMOCRATIC PARTY HEADQUARTERS

943 W. Overland Road, Meridian, Idaho 83642

Click here for directions

FOR OUR ANNUAL

FRIDAY NIGHT
POTLUCK & SOCIAL
THE NIGHT BEFORE 
THE FRANK AND BETHINE CHURCH BANQUET

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH,  6 – 8 PM

PLEASE BRING A SIDE, DESERT, OR BEVERAGE

SPONSORED BY THE CHAIR’S ASSOCIATION

Any questions, email beccaandbill@peoplepc.com

Directions to IDP

Posted on Feb 13, 2012 in Uncategorized

Address: 943 W Overland Rd.

Take I-84 West to Meridian Exit 44.

Turn left on Meridian Road.  

Turn right on W. Overland Road. 

Go through two stop lights (past the Lowe’s and past the ICON credit union).

Make your first left turn (Central Self-Storage driveway after Stoddard street).

Make an immediate right into the parking lot.

Follow the parking lot to the left and park. (You will see a ramp and a set of stairs leading up to our door).

Enter door and our offices are to the right Suites 118-126.

Representative Roy Lacey Week One Newsletter

Posted on Jan 13, 2012 in Legislative Updates, Uncategorized

It has been a busy week and also a very proactive and exciting time.   I am providing my comments on what has occurred this week. Most of our committee meetings have been reviewing new rules put forward by the agencies and most of these are of the housekeeping nature to insure that the rules are consistent with last year’s legislation.   Very few new bills have been introduced.   I do have some, but am looking for some support from the majority party before I throw them in the hat.   I have learned to be prudent.

I do not remember the first week last year being so busy, but then again, I still had the deer in the headlight look for several of the first weeks last year as I was searching for firm footing.

We began the week with the Governor’s State of the State message.   I was pleasantly surprised with the upbeat message, the addition of some funding for the k-12 and the higher education.   Additionally, the IGEMS program will fit nicely with ISU and its research facility.  While I cannot argue with some re-establishment of the rainy day funds, it is noteworthy that there was no mention of doing anything for the Health and Welfare cuts that were made last year.   Particularly in need are some funding for the mental health issues, but apparently these were not on the radar.   I recently read a report showing that the law enforcement calls for mental health issues has increased dramatically since these cuts and it is so much more expensive to incarcerate or move these individuals to full time care in a hospital situation.  I don’t know what we can do to make any changes this year.  There is a proposed State Employee salary increase to be given as a bonus and is tied to revenue received and a “place holder” $45 Million for some type of tax relief which is not defined.

Of course, the hot topic this week has been the Ethics Bills being presented by the Democratic Party.  This is not the first time that this subject has been proposed by the Democrats, but this time it seems to be gaining traction.  Why may this be?  Could it have something to do with all the press outlining the mis-deeds of some of the majority party which have not been addressed?   Both the House Speaker and the President Pro-tem of the Senate have agreed that the Ethics committee is a good idea and have pledged their support to work on this bill.   Hopefully it will be done in a couple of weeks and we can move forward with other ideas.   I am very thankful that it will be a non-partisan bill and should have the support of both parties.   This is how government is supposed to work.

A statewide insurance exchange bill is in process.  This would allow for a central clearinghouse for insurance policies.   In last week’s column I mentioned the Governor’s foresight in leaving the door open for federal money to establish this exchange.  While there seems to be some great support for this policy and the use of the federal grant, there are some in chambers who are discussing turning down the $20 million grant and waiting out the lawsuit which is challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.   They would take the chance that a Federal designed insurance exchange would be instituted, rather than an exchanged designed by and for Idaho.  Industry, Chamber, Insurance, the People and most of government agree that it is much better to have an Idaho designed exchange.  You will probably see this topic often as we move forward in the session.

Next week the Democrats will probably be bringing out a job creation package (IJobs 2.0) in an effort to stimulate the economy and end the recession.   This package should work well and in tandem with the IGEMS that the Governor proposed in his State of the State message.    Again, with both sides working together we can make Idaho a better place.

A new feature for those who “tweet”.   The Idaho Democratic Party has set up a “tweet” account (if that is what it is called) @IdahoHouseDems for up to date information on what is happening.  I  hope this will get you to that account.

Also, put aside the date of February 3^rd (evening) for a Town Hall/Pizza and Politics meeting in Pocatello.  This will give all of you an opportunity to catch up on the first month of the session.

Thank each of you for the trust you have shown in allowing me to represent you in the Legislature.  I cherish this responsibility and will do my very  best for Pocatello/Bannock County/Idaho.

District 30

Minority Leader John Rusche Monthly Newsletter

Posted on Aug 9, 2011 in Legislative Updates, Uncategorized

August 8, 2011 July has come and gone.  We finally are starting to see some color to our tomatoes and the hot days has turned the grass on the Lewiston Hill brown.  Here is a brief update on various things.   Redistricting The hottest political news is probably the Redistricting process.  They have less than a month to finish, and have finished all of their outreach meetings.  The Commission  must be done by September 6. The meetings have turned a bit contentious.  The Republican Commissioners appear to want to make even more secure conservative districts and do in moderates.  The Democratic Commissioners seem to be focused on keeping the cities and the more urban districts in tact.  Both maps pit incumbents against each other in many places.  Although they originally thought they could have a map done by the end of July, I think they will be lucky to reach an agreement at all. You can see the maps and even try your hand at drawing maps.  Here are links to the Redistricting Commission website and mapping tool. Here are some links to stories about the proposals. Betsy Russell (Eye on Boise Blog, Aug 1) Popkey (Idaho Statesman,August 4) There is no precident showing a path forward if they fail to vote out a map.  I expect that the State Supremem Court will decide either on a map or how to proceed. Budgeting and Financing FY 2011 closed out July 31 with a “surplus” of about $85 million.  $67 million of that was required by Fedral law to be sent to schools, and public schools received almost $60 m and professional-technical $7.5 m. I am sure that most of the districts are thrilled to have the extra money.  But it comes with  a catch.  It is “one time” and cannot be counted on for on-going uses.  Some districts have big holes because of the last two years of funding reductions, and others see the handwriting on the wall for this year (FY2012) and are setting it up as a reserve.  The school districts are likely to need this (and other) additional funding going into next year given the prior reductions in the FY 2012 budget. But the really interesting thing about the revenue for 2011 is that it sets the baseline for 2012.  The Legislature was very conservative is estimating 2012 revenue and setting 2012 budget, cutting public schools, healthcare and higher education funding.  But to reach the conservative number chosen for tax revenue, Idaho will actually need to collect less in FY 2012 than we actually did in FY 2011.  More reasonable extimates of revenue growth (3% 2012 over 2011) will result in almost $120 m “surplus”.  This begs the question of the Medicaid and school budget cuts–were the necessary or a manifestation of an idiology.  And will we end up paying more later for “savings” now. Already, there have been calls for a tax cut because of the anticipated “surplus”.  I think that some return of funding to needed operations and replenishing our rainy day funds come first. Leadership and solutions I know of few people who were pleased with the performance of the Congress over the last few months.  But the thing that really perplexed them  is the brinksmanship around the debt ceiling. I am not a Congressman, but as I see it, there are two issues.  One is a deficit, the other is a debt (or future debt). First is the annual shortfall, the annual deficit.  That seems to be to have gotten worse for a few reasons.  First the recession produces less economic activity and tax receipts fall while more support for unemployed workers and their families is needed by more Americans.  Second, we have not been collecting enough taxes to match Congressional appropriations. (interestingly, our tax burden is the lowest it has been in a long time, perhaps 60 years.  Here is a link to an article and chart of tax burden as a percent of GDP).  Especially interesting is the decrease in corporate taxes and increase in employment taxes. The second is the long term concern about money owed in future years for Medicare, Social Security and other benefits to which Americans are entitled by law, and future bond payments for money we are currently borrowing.  The major problem here is actuarial.  Medicare and Social Security have been wildly successful in extending the lives of senior Americans, and the anticipated revenues do not cover the anticipated expenses in future years.  As with any similar plan, a small adjustment in revenues and a small adjustment in outgoes can have dramatic results in the estimates of future shortfalls. So why was it difficult for Congress to get to a workable solution (which I think still eludes them)?  Maybe because the solutions are different. Short term cuts in discretionalry budget  do not address the long term actuarial difficulty. And, in the short term, when you need more cash flow, you need more cash flow now not planned lower payments 10-20 years from now. From my point of view, it appeared to be politics over solutions, partisanship over pragmatism. So what will be different? I was thinking about the show in DC and the problems during our last Legislative session with ideologic posturing (nullification, admittedly unconstitutional bills, federal government bashing) and wonder what the next election cycle will bring.  Do we expect much difference? I am quite concerned that the closure of primary elections will lead to further polarization, more heat and less light.  RINOs, DINOs, moderates and compromisers, beware. Summer Travels and Legislative Interim work This is the right time to be working on bills for next session.  So if there is an issue to discuss or a legislative solution to a problem, let me know so we can begin work.  It is easier now than if we wait until the session. I will be doing a bit of driving around Idaho trying to talk to people and identify good community members who might be interested in running for the Legislature.  If you want to help or want to know more about the Legislature, let me know.  There is a link on the side panel if you want to help offset the costs of the effort. Information and Contact Information It is not always easy to know what is up in Boise when the Legislature is not is session,  I try to keep track of things through the papers and blogs (Betsy Russell’sEye on Boise, Bill Spence (of the Tribune) Political Theatre, Dan Popkey (of theStatesman) Idaho Politics), or just keeping my ear to the political ground. Thanks again for the honor you have shown in me by allowing me to serve as your representative.  You can call and leave a message at home (208-743-1339) or email me and I will get back to you. It continues to by my honor to serve as your representative. John

Readers Opinion-Submitted by the Democratic Members of the Idaho Redistricting Commission

Posted on Jul 22, 2011 in Uncategorized

7/21/11

Three Democrats and three Republicans go into a room.  Although it sounds like the beginning of a punch line, it is currently the reality of the Citizens’ Commission for Redistricting, which is charged with the heavy responsibility to redraw Idaho’s Congressional and Legislative district boundaries.  The Commission has spent the last 2 weeks proposing and debating plans.

Unfortunately, the press coverage so far has been more about which plans benefit which party, rather than the merits of the plans.  Perhaps the merit is less entertaining than the partisan theater, but as the Democratic members of this Citizens’ Commission, we would like to take this opportunity to share with the public why our proposals are better for Idaho.

Our Congressional plans create clear, well-known and distinguishable lines.  As many people testified, the current Congressional line (often described as “somewhere out there by Cole Road”) confuses voters and can discourage participation.  Our first plan (C-34) used I-84 and Homedale Road as the divide, two well- known roads– two direct lines, no squiggles or cut outs.  After proposing this plan, Republicans asserted that the plan cut Canyon County unnecessarily and would be challenged in court.  In the spirit of compromise, we went back to the drawing board.

Our next proposal (C-37) kept as many counties whole as possible but made a small square cut of Ada County using Ten Mile, McMillan, I-84 and the county line.  The cut impacts the outskirts of the City of Meridian, but all other cities remained whole, another frequent request from the public.  This plan also insured that both Congressional Districts had the same number of people (1 person difference).  To reach this, we moved all of Canyon and Owyhee counties into Congressional District 2 (CD2) and Lemhi and Custer counties into Congressional District 1 (CD1).

Our plan is easier for the public to know exactly where the lines are, a big plus for Idaho’s voters.  Although our counterparts have proposed various versions of an east-west cut of Ada County (some easier to understand than others), none of their plans cut as few times as ours, nor are they as easy to understand or explain.

Our proposal also separates the highest areas of growth in our state into different districts, Ada and Canyon counties. In doing so, this proposal better safe guards the guiding principle of one person one vote, the core reason we redistrict to begin with.  While the Commission is not required to consider potential growth in their maps, it would be simple-minded not to do so. The Commission is not mandated to follow traditional lines, especially when it doesn’t make sense for the State.

Our plan also better combines communities of interest in Idaho.  Like most of Northern Idaho, Lemhi and Custer County would be able to easily relate to the challenges of natural resources and federal land issues.  This flip also connects the agricultural counties of Owyhee and Canyon with similar interests in CD2.  Admittedly, both districts will still have a bit of both issues, but our proposal does better combining like-minded communities, which makes for better representation.

Further, this plan makes CD1 more compact and balances the travel time for Idaho’s Congressmen, improving representation and accessibility.  Currently, it takes about 12 hours to travel from the Northern to the Southern Border of CD1.  Under our proposal, it would take about 9 hours (about 7 ½ in CD2 for an east-west trip).  Due the remote nature of Idaho, traveling statewide can be a challenge for any public official.  Yet, for those who have the desire to meet with constituents, there is a road to take them there.

Our legislative district proposal was also introduced before we adjourned this week (L28).  This map was designed to divide as few counties as possible, upholding the Constitutional requirement, and to incorporate as much public input as possible.  There are many public proposals of maps, but often those proposals create lines without regard to county boundaries.   The Constitution prohibits that luxury for the Commission.   We look forward to the feedback on this plan.

Protecting the American way of life [guest commentary]

Posted on Jul 18, 2011 in Uncategorized

Sometimes people need to get angry to become involved. For too long the rapidly shrinking middle class has been sitting back enjoying the “good” life of homeownership, sending the kids to college and comfort that this way of life would go on.

I have been there myself. For many years my life has been consumed with family, helping others and having a few hobbies. As I noted the political arena and what was happening, I would simply ask myself if I was affected today — if not I went on my merry way. This changed in 2010 when I realized that the decisions being made in Boise (and Washington, D.C.) were affecting the lives of those who seemingly had no voice, such as, the elderly, the children, the disabled and, yes, the middle class. Much of what was happening consisted of longterm effects, changes that would cost more in the future and those with influence were getting preferential treatment.

My involvement in the politics of Idaho has been an amazing adventure. However, the most exciting is the activity that is occurring with the people in Idaho. There have been four Town Hall meetings in Pocatello in the last few months with all being very well attended   and people are speaking out. The people attending the Town Halls are not the radicals, but everyday working folks, just like you and me. Great things begin to happen when the informal conversations begin, ideas begin to flow and the base for change gets established. This is the purpose for having these meetings. As elected representatives the Democrats want to hear what the people want. After all, we are the people’s party. We are there to protect the children, the elderly, the environment and the American way of   life.

At our latest Town Hall there was much discussion on the path the Legislature was taking during this last session. Worries about the surprise education bills and the methods utilized to get them passed, and the possibility of the   referendums on these same bills succeeding. While we are talking about our children, concern has been expressed regarding the child care licensing and the relaxing of the restrictions statewide. Some cities have more restrictive ordinances, but outside city limits the child care industry can just go by the state requirements. The inability to pass an anti-texting bill was brought out by several attendees. Of course, health care, namely affordable health care, is a concern of most at the meeting.

Much was said about the Republican   drive to eliminate the influence of organized labor from Idaho. Senate Bill 1134 which restricts some activities was deemed unconstitutional by Idaho’s attorney general, but it passed both the Senate and House and now is being challenged in the courts because it does violate the constitution. So, Idaho will now spend taxpayer dollars defending this unconstitutional bill. Such legislation makes no sense.

Another interesting comment is that “environment” is not a dirty word. We all enjoy our pristine areas in Idaho. This is a great draw for tourism and is the reason that many of us live in Idaho. We need our clean water, clean air and have sustainable recreation and farming activities to support our people. Concerns about the “fracturing” type drilling that possibly may be done in the near future in the Payette area to make it easier to find natural gas has been a topic of great discussion.

Most interesting of all the   discussions was about what a Democrat represents. Too often the “blue” party has been defined by the “red” party. Many accusations of “tax and spend” have been attributed to the Democrats. This has been done nationally as well as in statewide political arenas with little argument from the Democrats even though this is far from the truth. Why? I have no idea, but the definition of what Idaho Democrats stand for was put very nicely in this last meeting. It was agreed that a Democrat is a “FAMILY VALUES PARTY” with concerns about our children, education, the elderly and those who cannot speak for themselves. Additionally, the Democrats fight for good jobs, fair wages and a life that may be quickly disappearing.

Our regular folks are getting involved and this is great. After all, we are family.
Roy Lacey, of Pocatello, is a member of the Idaho House of Representatives.

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