Rep. King Week 5 Newsletter

Posted on Feb 15, 2012 in Legislative Updates

It is an honor and a privilege to be an Idaho legislator.  Staying in touch with constituents is very important to me.  Each year, I schedule forums for informal discussions about legislative concerns or issues you are interested in.

There are two more forums left this session.  Both will be held from 7 to 8:30 PM

Thursday, February 16 at Maple Grove Elementary School in the library.  I have asked the Air National Guard to come talk to us about the proposed possibility of F-35s coming to Gowen field.

Thursday, March 15 at Timberline High School in the cafeteria or in the choir room.  Enter from the east entrance.

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

Independent Ethics Commission:  Our working committee continues to work on legislation for a commission.  We have gathered much information but have not made many decisions.  I am anxious to get something on paper soon!

This week we heard in our other committees a variety of other proposed ethics legislation brought by majority party legislators.  Most of these bills differ in that they deal with internal legislative committees and NOT a commission.  I wonder if they understand the difference.  But I believe that they have gotten the message that the public wants accountability.   My paranoid self wonders whether some in the other party are trying to undermine our working group.

Animal Cruelty SB 1303:  It has been an up and down week for legislation making animal cruelty a felony on the third conviction.  Rep. Tom Trail attempted to introduce legislation in the House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday and it failed to even get printed.  However, Stan Boyd from the Idaho Wool Growers Assoc got a similar bill printed on the Senate side on Thursday.  I have read it and although it is watered down, I believe I can support this bill.

There are still people gathering signatures for an initiative on the ballot this coming November. Their initiative would define animal torture and levy escalating punishments for cruelty that would become a felony by the third offense.

Occupy Boise:  HB 404 prohibits camping.  The senators amended HB 404 so that personal property will be stored for 90 days before it is disposed of. This was one of my compromise amendments that I proposed in the House but it failed.  In this form, I believe it will pass the senate and it will come back to the House for us to concur with their amendment.

Early Childhood Coordinating Council (EC3):  I spoke at a PTA meeting Wednesday evening and Thursday at lunch and several people wanted to know more about the council.  I was appointed by the Governor to serve on the EC3 council three or four years ago.   We meet 4 times a year.  The mission of the council is to bring H&W agency personnel, pediatric providers, and families with young children together to help connect families with services, especially for those families with special needs young children.

During our meetings, reports are given about what is new in the agencies or what has changed for/by providers. This is followed by a discussion about what works and what doesn’t.  It is a networking opportunity for the council members who are working to improve services for young children especially those with special needs.  Also during our meetings we receive in-depth information about relevant topics.  This too strengthens our knowledge and improves services. The idea is that Council members return to their homes or jobs with information that helps better serve families.

I have a bill, HB 388, this session that will update archaic language for the Council in the state law and add a fund which private citizens can contribute to for related services. Getting the bill introduced and passed has been challenging because some of my colleagues in the House don’t understand the role of a coordinating council.  Many Federal and non-profit programs require a coordinating council to be in place before they establish that program in the state.

Commerce and Human Resources:  Besides working on bills in committee, agencies also give informational presentations.  This is 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, feeding needy families at the same time.

JFAC: JFAC is still hearing from different agencies and will start setting the budget on Feb 21. This morning they heard from the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD).  ITD reported that they have about a $543 million backlog of road and bridge repairs.  Last week the Permanent Building Fund reported that they had $500 million in deferred maintenance.  All agencies have testified that their best and brightest employees are leaving because of low pay. This is the third year without a pay raise and I believe that instead of putting money into a rainy day fund as the Governor proposed, we should consider at least a small raise for our hard working state employees.

Update on iJOBs 2.0: The Democrats unveiled iJOBs 2.0 legislation.  We have seven bills.

  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. Idaho Partnership Bank.  HCR 30 will set up a state chartered bank.  The bill is being held by the committee chair.
  3. Business Relocation & Finder’s Fee Tax Credit.  This bill seeks to persuade vendors, partners, and like-minded businesses to relocate to Idaho.  The business that is successful at bringing a like-minded business to Idaho will get $500 for each new full time employee at the new business.  We are hoping this bill will be introduced
  4. Idaho Corporate Accountability and Transparency Act:  HB 435 will require public disclosure of tax incentive details directed to corporations, including the purpose of the incentive, amount of each subsidy, and the number of jobs created. The bill is being held by the committee chair.
  5. Micro Enterprise Bride Loan Program.  The bill is a balanced pairing of public and private stakeholders creating a resource to help Idaho’s small business with loans of up to $35,000 for use as start-up, expansion, and modernization. The bill was defeated in committee.
  6. Buy Idaho First Contracting Act.  HB 439 gives preference to the State Purchasing Agency for goods and services from companies based in Idaho. The bill is being held by the committee chair.
  7. 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.  May be introduced in State Affairs next week.

Representative Phylis K. King

State Capitol building

208-332-1080

PO Box 83720

Boise, Id 83720-0038