Rep. Lacey Week 5 Newsletter

Posted on Feb 15, 2012 in Legislative Updates

Much more is happening as the session moves forward.   We still have not gotten into the big items such as the Insurance Exchange which is still being held up by the H&W committee.   This bill will take some time, so hopefully it will come soon.    This has been a very busy week with what seems like long days, but I can come home satisfied that the State if moving forward.

Week 5 – 2012

Another fun and exciting week at the Capitol.  The rush is on to get bills to the non-privileged committees as Friday and Monday are the deadlines for new legislation.   That being said — bills can be pushed through the privileged committees if leadership would approve right up to the last day, and many are.

It was interesting that the State of Idaho received an “F” in transparency.   Found this in a news story this week and an article in another medium explained a law suit by some disabled Idahoan’s against H&W.   Apparently the benefits were cut in the neighborhood of 40% and when H&W was asked why, they replied that the formula was a “trade secret”.

While on this subject, the ethics committee is working hard to come up with some language that will suit all.  While it is moving forward, the pace is slow, but we fully expect something will happen in the next week or two.

There are still nearly 65,000 Idahoan’s out of work.  So far the Democrats are the only ones to be addressing this problem with the IJobs 2.0 bills.   I have been working on an Agriculture Value Added Bill which would provide a tax credit for agriculture to add value to the crop – example, wheat to flour, milk to cheese (or whatever), cattle owners to feedlot, etc. etc.  This bill provides a tax credit up to $500,000 for those wishing to build or expand the agriculture products.   This little project has been in the works for about 4 weeks with Donna Pence and I taking it to industry, state, tax commission and others to be sure that the bill is correct.   We hope to take it to the Revenue and Tax Committee next week.   We are just waiting for the final approval from the Tax Commission, which should be received by Monday.

As I talked earlier about scrambling, my Share the Road bill which provides a three foot clearance for vehicles passing bicycles, pedestrians, joggers and horses was RS’d on Wednesday and I will be getting it to the Transportation Committee (non-privileged) before Monday.   I tried this bill last year but did not make it past the initial hearing.   This year (with more experience) I have vetted the bill to several other house members and have a lot of community support from this area.   I would like some letters of support from the Pocatello area if anyone is interested – rlacey@house.idaho.gov.

The State Parks Department has proposed (and I like it) a $10 per year State Parks Pass.  This can be purchased at the same time as you renew your vehicle registration.  This would encourage greater use of the State Park system and also save money for the users.   It is one of those win-win opportunities.

The House Agriculture Committee rejected a bill proposed by Representative Tom Trail regarding animal cruelty.  I was devastated, until I learned that a similar bill was being proposed in the Senate which had more support and would be coming to the House sometime next week.   Apparently the proposers of the bills were not in communication.

I have had many e-mails, pros and cons, about the rumor that the Cigarette Tax Increase Bill was being moved forward.  I have not responded because I know very little as the bill has not been introduced and while there is talk, nothing has moved forward.   Some say we will not hear this bill during the 2012 session.   May have something to do with it being an election year.

The Oil and Gas drilling bills came through one of my committees this week.  To clarify, these bills are not about “fracking” but conventional drilling practices.   I was concerned about two items – loss of local control of where drilling may occur and some issues on water.   I actually went into the committee meeting with the intention of probably voting against the legislation.   I did talk with Bannock County officials, who were neutral on the bill. After studying the bill, writing down my concerns and asking questions in committee, I did vote to pass the bill.   There was a lot of testimony, but much of the information we had been provided by opponents prior to the hearing and even during the hearing was not correct.   Testimony by the industry, the Association of Counties and others was such that it appears the parties involved feel this legislation is good for Idaho.

We are still waiting to hear from the Health & Welfare on the Insurance Exchanges.   This is important for Idaho and something must be moved forward.   We do not want a Federal dictated exchange as Idaho can do it better.   Other states are well on their way, but once again Idaho is dragging its feet.

Thank you for allowing me to be your representative.   I take the matter seriously and will continue to have Pocatello and Bannock County as my priorities.   Please contact me with any suggestions, worries or ideas – rlacey@house.idaho.gov.

Representative Roy Lacey

District 30