[Vision2020] pre-Legislative update from Rep. Trail

[Bill London]

My thanks to Tom Trail for providing this excellent example of legislative
communication.
I wish all other local legislators followed this example.
BL



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <ttrail at moscow.com>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 9:02 PM
Subject: [Vision2020] pre-Legislative update from Rep. Trail


> Visionaries:
>
> The Idaho Legislature will convene on Monday (January 9th).  The Governor
> will give us State of the State address that evening.  He will probably
> talk about his plans to reform Medicaid, prison overcrowding, the $200
> million surplus, and, hopefully, about tax restructuring.
>
> The $200 million plus surplus will be the subject of great debate. The
> Governor has indicated he will not approve any of the monies going to
> fund on-going projects and activities.  Part of the surplus will, no
> doubt, be held back in reserve as part of the budget stabilization
> process.
>
> Property tax relief will be high on the priority list.  The Legislative
> Interim Committee has proposed a $125 million package for property tax
> relief.  Property tax relief can only be achieved by cutting expenses or
> shifting taxes, and it appears that the most likely shift will be to the
> sales tax.  There is the possibility of one or two citizen initiatives
> for property tax relief.  This puts added pressure on the Legislature to
> come up with a relief package.
>
> Funding for education will be vital for District 6  --  both public and
> for the University of Idaho.  The Idaho Education Association is pushing
> an initiative which would call for an increase of one percent in the
> sales tax to be dedicated to educational programs and teachers salaries.
> The Idaho Supreme Court ruled in favor of the school districts and told
> the Legislature to fix the problem.  One expert reports that we need
> about $35 million per year in bond match and $25 million per year toward
> maintenance and repair of public school buildings.  Both of these forces
> will make the session very challenging.
>
> Legislatition that I will be working on:
>
>   1.  OMNIBUS TAX BILL  --  This proposal would eliminate 10 exemptions
> and generate $60 million for the General Fund.  Services would be taxed
> at the 5% sales tax rate (except medical and health). Total sales tax
> would generate an amount equal to the 6% sales tax rate and yield a
> surplus of about $250 million.  This could be utilized to provide
> property tax relief, provide additional money for teachers salaries and
> educational activities, and help fund school facilities needs.  Another
> alternative is to reduce the sales tax on groceries.
>
>   2.  Option Sales Tax -- Rep. Ringo and I were approached by the County
> Commissioners, former Mayor Comstock, Sheriff Rausch, and Moscow Chief of
> Police, Dan Weaver.  We will be introducing legislation that would allow
> the citizens of Latah County to vote on a 1/2 cent option tax to build a
> combined law enforcement center for the Sheriff's Office and the Moscow
> City Police.  There would be considerable savings with a combined
> facility.  The Legislature has to vote to grant the citizens of Latah
> County to right to proceed with a vote to approve or reject the
> proposal.  Two thirds vote is required for passage.   One positive
> outcome if passed is that Latah County citizens would get about one
> million in property tax relief a year.  Both Kootenai and Nezperce county
> have been granted approval, and citizens approved proposals to build law
> enforcement facilities.  A needs assessment is now being conducted.
>
>   3.  Minimum Wage -- I will be introducing legislation to increase
> Idaho's minimum wage to $6.15/hr with a CPI to go into effect each
> Janaury 1st.  I understand that the Democrats have similar legislation.
> The federal government has not increased the minimum wage of $5.15 for
> eight years.  Seventeen states have increased the minimum wage since 1997.
>
>   4.  Updating of Idaho's Animal Cruelty Laws  --  part of the
> legislation will be to request a felony penalty for dog fighting.  A
> total of 48 states already have a felony penalty on the books for dog
> fighting.  I'm working with the Idaho Humane Society with this
> legislation.  We also plan to introduce legislation next year that would
> request the felony penalty on gamecock fighting.
>
>   5.  State Employee Compensation  --  I will be joining other
> legislators in signing on to a resolution to increase state employee
> compensation by 5%.  During the past several years there has been
> virtually no increase at all.
>
>   6.  Grass Burning Notification  --  this legislation has been requested
> by Sheriff Wayne Rausch.  It would require the Department of Agriculture
> to inform law enforcement/emergency services of the date, location, and
> the time of a planned burn.  This is a public health issue.
>
>   7.  Energy Assistance to Families at the Poverty Level  --  Avista has
> indicated they want to provide significant assistance to the 12,000
> families in N. Idaho who are at or below the poverty level in terms of
> energy assistance.  By Idaho law one cannot discriminate between classes
> or rate payers.  The code needs to be changed.  The statutory change
> would not be mandatory but voluntary for the energy provider in question.
>
>     I have several other bills in progress.  In addition I will be
> supporting added financial support for the University of Idaho including
> staff salaries, faculty equity, and maintenance and operation.
>
>     I'd appreciate your input, comments, and recommendations regarding
> legislation.
>
> My contact information follows below:
>
> Idaho State Legislature
> State Capitol Bldg
> P.O. Box 83720
> Boise, ID 83720-0038
>
> 208-332-1260 (my desk phone)
> 208-332-1000 (information desk phone)
>
> ttrail at moscow.com or ttrail at house.idaho.gov
>
> Repectfully,
>
> Rep. Tom Trail
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------
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