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Week 3 Rep. Smith Newsletter
Idaho House of Representatives
Week 3 of Idaho Legislature
In the House Business Committee this week the Idaho Fraud Awareness Coalition gave a presentation. They have a new web sitewww.fightfraudidaho.com, so I encourage all citizens to go to this website. Also, if you know of an organization needing a speaker on fraud, go to this web site to schedule a presenter. Fraud could be classified as identity theft, insurance fraud, investment fraud, real estate fraud, or health care fraud. This coalition has a list of resources to help individuals such as phone numbers for the Better Business Bureau, toll free insurance fraud hotline, national do not call registry, about credit reports, etc.
The video franchising House bill 410 has arrived. This year Century Link and Cable One are co-sponsors of the Idaho Video Service Act, which establishes a process for the issuance of a state video franchise instead of having to negotiate with individual cities on video contracts. The definition of gross revenues has changed by not including advertisement revenues which local contracts now have and it does not allow for separate Peg fees. It does allow cities to receive up to a five percent franchise fee based on gross revenues of the video service providers receive from video subscribers. My understanding is this proposed bill would cost the City of Pocatello a revenue loss of $80,000. Please read the bill and give me your opinion on this issue.
House bill 404 to prohibit camping at the Capitol Mall of Occupy Boise passed from State Affairs committee on a vote of 14 to 5. The Occupy Boise people who testified stated that they were having a vigil not a campout. They all believed this was part of their right in the First Amendment for free speech and to assemble. Thirty nine people testified with 37 against the bill and only 2 for the passage of the bill, not counting the sponsor of the bill. In committee I made a substitute motion to send the bill to General Orders to remove the emergency clause, but that was defeated. This bill has 29 Republican co-sponsors, so it easily passed on the House floor with a vote of 54 for and 16 no.
Recently the released report on Reducing Barriers to Postsecondary Education was heard in the JLOC committee of which I am a member. Barriers fall into three main areas of academic readiness, access, and affordability. There were nine recommendations for the Board of Education, the Department of Education, the Department of Labor and to the Legislature to help with reducing these barriers. One area that caught my attention was the fact that $1.3 million of state scholarship moneys reverted back to the General Fund. Allowing state scholarships to go unspent was appalling and a huge surprise to me. I was informed that the Legislative Budget Office is working this year to see that scholarship money is used correctly. Some people want scholarships to be based on academics, while others want scholarships to be based on need. I will be following this issue, since Idaho State University is part of Legislative District 30.
This week Agency Rules I heard were 2 pending rules pertaining to Architectural Examiners and State Liquefied Petroleum Gas Board. The 3 fee rules pertained to decreasing fees of Cosmetology licenses, while increasing fees of Real Estate Appraisers and Idaho Driving Schools licenses. Also, I have heard many proposed RS’s which were introduced and now are bills.
In June 2010 the Department of Health & Welfare implemented a new Medicaid Management Information System. In March 2011 the evaluation report detailed many issues with several problems. A follow-up Molina report was presented to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee this week stating everything that Molina was asked to do had been implemented. However in a survey of Medicaid providers 33% were still unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with Molina. Thus, there will be another follow-up report in the fall of 2012. If you as a Medicaid provider are still having problems, please contact me.
Everyone is invited to a legislative forum on Saturday, February 4th, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Labor Temple, 456 N. Arthur. To contact me on any issues, please e-mail me at esmith@house.idaho.gov or call 208/332-1031.
Elaine Smith – District 30 State Representative
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