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Representative Roy Lacey Week One Newsletter
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 3rd (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
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