in this great state. On March 4, 1864, Abraham Lincoln signed a declaration creating the Territory of Idaho.
Idaho was created by leaders who on the following values, as stated in the 1860 Republican platform,
campaigned:

• “All men are created equal and no person should be deprived of life, liberty or property, without
due process of law.”

• “We are in favor of giving a full and efficient protection to the rights of all classes of citizens,
whether native or naturalized, both at home and abroad.”

• “Railroad [infrastructure] is imperatively demanded by the interests of the whole country.”

• “The recent startling developments of frauds and corruptions require a return to a focus on the
economy and that accountability is indispensable.”

How could a party dedicated to the values described above change so much over the years?  If Abraham
Lincoln were alive today, I wonder if he would recognize the Idaho Republican Party. It seems unlikely
that he would be supportive of the actions taken by Legislative Republicans who claim to revere and
remember him.

Were they remembering the “Great Emancipator” when they refused to even hear testimony on a bill that
would have protected Idaho citizens from discrimination?

Were they invoking Lincoln as they voted in favor of legislation that would squelch peaceful protest and
the exercise of First Amendment Rights?
Were they “channeling” the great leader when they voted to nullify federal law and set the Idaho Legislature
above the US Congress and Constitution?

The irony is unmistakable. GOP leadership in the Idaho Legislature, perhaps rooted in the values of Lincoln
at one time, has drifted far from many of the 16^th president’s most important principles: the protection of an
individual’s rights, support for the infrastructure that helps create prosperity, and the preservation of a unified
America.

How times have changed.

Greetings from the Capitol! This past week has been an important week for my committees. The Local Government and Taxation Committee heard testimony on the possibility of Idaho joining with other states in an effort to introduce streamlined sales tax legislation for purchases made over the internet. A streamlined sales tax would level the playing field between internet businesses and brick-and-mortar establishments. Unless states are willing to work together, tracking internet sales is extremely difficult. Some estimate that Idaho loses tens of millions annually in revenue, hurting schools and Main Street businesses. It’s important to remember this would not be a new tax but an improved system of internet sales tax collection.

Concern regarding fracking has been a big issue in the legislature this past week. Fracking is a process being used to increase the release of natural gas and/or oil from underground deposits. This is done by injecting liquids at high pressure into the ground after a well has been drilled and cased. Luckily, natural gas deposits in Southwest Idaho are primarily in sand and sandstone, not shale beds like most of the controversial fracking wells on the East coast. This will require less fracking to loosen the gas. However, we need a system in place that protects public health and our environment, and guards the safety of our drinking water. There are legitimate concerns regarding the use of cancer causing chemicals and the disposal of used fracking fluid. Local governmental leadership needs to have the authority to oversee when and where fracking developments can occur and determination needs to be made as to the involvement of the state as a partner.

The Division of Public Works is starting the design process for a planned $1.1 million renovation at Idaho State University. The proposed project will convert the basement of the College of Education building from underused and substandard space into additional classrooms. Currently the basement of the building houses an old TV station and unneeded technical labs. The funding for the renovation will come from the state’s Permanent Building Fund which receives money from many sources including income, sales, and cigarette taxes as well as lottery proceeds.

Last week, the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee were presented with proposed improvements to the State Employee Insurance Plan. This plan concerns every state employee who participates in Idaho’s insurance plan. As well as looking into increasing vision benefits and simplifying part-time employee participation in the program, possible changes made to the plan including:

• Eliminating the waiting period for access to the Flexible Spending Account program – designed to help employees save for medical expenses.
• Extending the open enrollment period by one week to allow employees extra time to make decisions about their health care plans.
• Expanding options on voluntary life and disability benefits.
• Expanding the prescription drug benefit program to state retirees over 65 that are now on private plans.

If approved, these changes will go into effect on July 1^st of this year.

I will continue to keep you posted on important news from the capital as it unfolds. As always, it is an honor and a privilege to serve those of you in my district and I welcome any questions or comments you may have.  You can contact me via email at dbilyeu@senate.idaho.gov.

Sincerely,

Diane Bilyeu

There is one forum left this session.  It will be from 7 to 8:30 PM Thursday, March 15 at Timberline High School in the cafeteria or in the choir room.  Enter from the east entrance and follow the signs.

Please forward this email to anyone you think might like to attend the forum.

You don’t have to wait until the forum to contact me.  My email is pking@house.idaho.gov. Or call me at the statehouse 332-1080 or at home 344-0202.

Last night we had about 50 people at our forum at Maple Grove Elementary.  Thank you all who came.  We had some great conversations about the possibility of the F-35s coming to Boise, education funding, the governor’s mansion, and ethics.

Education: Did you read the article in the Statesman about teachers leaving their profession?  More than half of the educators who left teaching last year left for “personal reasons,” according to data from the state Department of Education. The number more than doubled from 697 in 2011, up from 314 in 2010.

School districts reported another 96 teachers were fired (I thought the argument for one of the Luna bills (SB1108) was that it was too difficult to fire a teacher!) and 85 were laid off in 2011, which is about the same as the previous year. The remaining 579 educators left to continue their education or because of military and family obligations. I suspect many of the baby boomers left because they did not see any pay raises in their future and decided to take their retirement and run!

Other Education: Three teachers at St. Maries High School were interviewed this week by a reporter from the Ridenbaugh press.   The article said, “All three said without hesitation they intended to vote to repeal the three Luna bills that will be on the ballot in November. They said they were offended by the lack of due process alone (see above about the ability to fire teachers). In their eyes it was a betrayal of trust for Governor Otter and State Superintendent Luna to have campaigned for re-election in 2010 and not to have said word one to anyone involved in education about what they were planning to introduce seven weeks later when the 2011 session began.”

I believe that teachers have the unique ability to thoughtfully analyze and provide valuable input into ideas for reform. To have it steamrolled through this state legislature was just adding insult to injury and by invoking the “emergency clause” to force early implementation before all the unintended consequences had been worked out was just the frosting on the cake. This year there seems to be an attempt by Luna to buy back good graces of the voters and teachers by restoring funds for pay cut from last year’s budget.

Minimum wage:  I have a bill to raise the minimum wage in Idaho but the majority party in the legislature will not allow a hearing.   Minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and tipped wages are $ 3.35 per hour and have not kept up with inflation.  If they had kept up with the purchasing power they had in 1968, it would be $10.39 per hour.

Many people believe that minimum wage jobs are for teens.  But 80% of these jobs are taken by 20 year or older citizens.   Most minimum-wage earners contribute more than half of their family’s income.  These earners are breadwinners—disproportionately female—and are supporting spouses, children, parents and other relatives.  They are underemployed and are falling farther behind because their wages don’t cover basic needs

67% of Americans support gradually raising the minimum wage to $10.39.  Increasing the purchasing power of workers stimulates the economy.  Wages paid for hard, important work should at least allow a worker to feed and clothe their families, keep a roof over their heads, and pay for transportation and child care.  Call or email your legislator and tell them to have a hearing on this important issue.

Add the Words campaign: In a party-line vote, the Senate State Affairs Committee took less than five minutes last Friday to kill a bill that would have made it illegal for employers and apartment owners to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation.

Blue Healer:  A draft was brought to make the blue healer the state dog and to add it to our list of state symbols.  The committee rejected the idea saying, “We want to include all dogs in our state.”

Isn’t it interesting that members of the majority party are inclusive of dogs but exclusive of some humans?

Citizens United:  The .0000063 Percent Election: Ari Berman, of TomDispatch said: “Electoral politics and the 2012 presidential election have become almost exclusively defined by the 1%. Or, to be more precise, the .0000063%. Those are the 196 individual donors who have provided nearly 80% of the money raised by super PACs in 2011 by giving $100,000 or more each. If 2008 was the year of the small donor … then 2012 is ‘the year of the big donor,’ when a candidate is only as good as the amount of money in his super PAC.”

Rep. Grant Burgoyne, Senator Elliott Werk and I have a memorial to ask congress to pass legislation that would define corporations as NOT people and that our democracy depends on fair and free elections for effective government.

Early Childhood Coordinating Council (EC3):  My bill HB 388 died on a 31 to 37 vote.  I am terribly disappointed but I will be back next year with another version.  I have spoken to a few of my colleagues and they just seem so confused.

There were also those who just straight out told me that it sounded like a federal program and they want nothing to do with the federal government!  Think about that….$290 million out of a $1.86 Billion education budget is from the federal government.  About half of the $500 million transportation budget is from the federal government.  About $1.5 billion out of a $2.2 billion H&W budget is from the federal government.  There are other entities like the INL, the interagency Fire center, Veterans admin and hospital, BLM, Social security admin, just to name a few.  What would happen if we decided not to take another penny from the federal government?  We all pay federal income tax so this is our money coming back to Idaho.  And yet there are people in this Idaho legislature that advocate turning down this money!

The HB 388 updated archaic language for the EC3 council in the state law and added a fund which private citizens can contribute to for related services.

Commerce and Human Resources:  Besides working on bills in committee, agencies also give informational presentations—generally an overview of a total program.  In Commerce and Human Resources, we heard from the Division of Welfare which is a small portion of the Dept. of H&W.  The Division budget is 5.8% or $140 million of the total H&W budget.

However, the Division of Welfare also administers $200 million of child support payments (100% from parents), and the Food Stamp benefits of $350 million (100% from the federal government).  The Food Stamp program has dramatically increased from 36,000 individuals in 2007 to 223,700 in 2011.  Another way to look at this is that $350 million in federal funds directly benefit grocery stores that provide food for low-income families.

Tobacco Tax: I am receiving lots of emails to raise the tax on cigarettes by $1.50 per pack.  It is currently at $1.35 per pack so with the new proposal it would be $2.85 per pack.  This bill has yet to be introduced but smoking related illnesses are a huge drain on all of our pocketbooks whether we smoke or not.

Update on iJOBs 2.0: The Democrats unveiled iJOBs 2.0 legislation.  We had seven bills but only two are still in play and the rest have been defeated.

1. Value-added Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment Act.  This bill will help family farms create more processing plants or farm-to-market cooperatives to increase local jobs, create processing plants, decrease energy and transportation expenses, and keep value-added revenues in Idaho.  The bill is being reviewed by the Tax Commission.
2. Rural Broadband service Memorial.  Difficult terrain should not impede Idaho citizens from affordable access to broadband technology.  This Memorial just states that we would like to have better broadband in Idaho.  Passed out of committee on a unanimous vote.

Week 6 – 2012

We have reached the half way point in this session – maybe a bit beyond the mid-point as the budgets are currently being set by JFAC with a goal of March 9 to finalize their deliberations.   Could it be that this session will end by March 23^rd?   I have been hearing this date as the estimated Sine Die.

There are several hurdles to jump prior to the end, with the large animal in the room being the Health Care Exchange for Idaho.  Apparently there are three bills circulating – none printed – that deal with this concept, however, none of them include using the available Federal money that was made available.  The State has access to $20 million of Federal money  to set up an exchange but may choose to fund at least a version of an exchange with Idaho money with a figure of $6 million being thrown around.  My question is, “Where is this money coming from?”  The short answer is from our taxpayers, which may reduce funding for other programs, or even replenishing some of the rainy day funds.  I have always been a proponent of an Idaho Exchange, so will support the measure to begin the process as it is imperative that Idaho be in control of its own future.

Sometimes the actions of this body confuse me.  The House defeated a bill (H 388) which would provide for services for “special needs children”.   This bill had a $21,000 cost which was covered by the Federal Government at this point, but if those funds were not available, the State would pick up the funding.  While the possibility of this small expenditure was rejected, there was $200,000 recommended to fund the closed Republican Primary.  This measure will surely pass.  Such actions make me wonder sometimes what is morally correct and why we cannot take care of our children rather than make actions like voting more difficult and an create an elitist party membership.

Finally we have a Texting Bill moving (S1274).  This is a very simple, straight forward bill that bans texting while driving.   I hope we will have the courage in the House to move this bill along and pass this legislation as it is needed.

The Democrat Jobs bills are having a difficult time.  There seems to be little interest on the majority side to increase jobs in Idaho.  Most recent was the rejection of a “Finder’s Fee” bill which would encourage Idaho companies to bring their suppliers, or shippers to Idaho.   This bill did have some traction with three of the majority party siding with the passage of the bill.  Yet, bills have been printed regarding a specialty plate (from a former legislator) to give money to a newly formed non-profit run by this former legislator, his wife and a nephew; a bill is being heard regarding allowing insurance companies to opt out of coverage for contraceptives if they (the insurance company) feels such items are morally wrong;  and, removing  parking meters from around the Capitol.

The ethics movement started off quickly this session, but is currently still in committee as an attempt is being made to come up with provisions that will satisfy enough of the body to get passed.   Forty one states have ethics laws, but Idaho does not.  Last week I mentioned transparency.  This body needs to be transparent in its dealings and the first step is to get some movement going in the ethics area.   The Legislature is a body made up of some very fine people who want to represent their constituents, but the actions of a few have tainted its reputation.  Hopefully this committee will get some rules and responsibilities developed so we can start moving down the right road.

I thank each of you for allowing me the opportunity to be part of the Legislative Body.   I take this responsibility seriously and enjoy hearing from the folks in Bannock County.   Please contact me with any suggestions, ideas or even complaints.  rlacey@house.idaho.gov

Representative Roy Lacey

District 30

There is a wind turbine moratorium bill (House bill 527) proposed which would stop construction of wind turbines in Idaho from July 1, 2012 to July 1, 2014.  This proposed bill would create a task force to study the analysis on effects of wind turbines with a report to be given in January 2014.  It will be heard in the House Environment committee, so let me know your thoughts.

The 2012 Energy Plan (HCR 34) passed from the Environment, Energy & Technology Committee this week. This is an updated version of the 2007 Energy Plan.  It was stated the Energy Plan priorities are 1 – conservation, energy efficiency and demand resources activities, 2 – renewable resources, and 3- all our conventional resources.  If you want to read a copy of the Plan, it is available on the Office of Energy Resources website.

House bill 464 on oil and gas exploration and production was heard Friday with the sponsor stating the bill had support and opposition to it.  An example is that Payette County supports and Washington County was opposed to the bill.  Both of these counties have places where natural gas has been found.  Bannock County officials were neutral on this issue.  It came down to state siting authority versus local government authority on sites.  The bill does not allow counties and cities to have authority on placement of wells.  After hearing the debate, I voted no because I believe in local control on this issue.

The Director of the Idaho State Police gave legislators an update of their operations and funding.  They have had a 20% reduction from on-going general fund support and a 6% decline in ISP’s portion of the Highway Distribution Account. They are maintaining an adequate level of service.  I also learned that the statewide deployment of Idaho State Police electronic ticket technology is now complete.  All county courts are online and ISP ticket data is now sent electronically to the courts.

Seven states have legislatures meet all year long.  They are Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.  This Legislator wants to say thank you Idaho for having the wisdom to have a civilian legislature that meets until the budget is balanced.

Please save the following date on your calendar.  On Saturday, March 3, at 10 a.m. the District 30 Legislators will have a legislative forum at City Hall.

Thank you for all who have been e-mailing me on a wide variety of issues.  I appreciate hearing from you, so please keep your comments coming.  My e-mail is esmith@house.idaho.gov.

Elaine Smith – District 30 State Representative