[Vision2020] Legislative update VII from Rep. Trail

[Donovan Arnold]

Tom,
   
  Good work by you, Shirley and Roger on HB172. Thank you. I am sure it will pass w/o problems. That is a badly needed bill. 
   
  I do fail to see the point of Idaho passing a minimum wage bill that is exactly like that being passed on the federal level, it wouldn't add anything. 
   
  I personally don't think that raising the minimum wage helps anything, it just causes inflation. I would rather see the Idaho legislature working on ways to prevent poverty, increasing the number of jobs coming into Idaho, and making Idaho more affordable by providing affordable housing, tax free food and medication, and free or affordable educational opportunities for career advancement. 
   
  Artificially raising wages doesn't solve any problems. If it did, why not just raise minimum wage to $25 an hour and wipe out poverty completely? 
   
  Best,
   
  Donovan  
   
   
  
ttrail at moscow.com wrote:
  LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER VII--FEBRUARY 12-16/2007

Dear Constituents:

Friday was one of those lazy and warm spring days. There were not
many legislators in the chamber around 2 pm. I was reviewing my notes for
a presentation on Monday of HCR09 -- a tribute from the Legislature
congratulating the University of Idaho College of Engineering on their
100th anniversary. Earlier in the week the resolution co-sponsored by Rep.
Ringo and myself passed by unanimous voice vote. The College of
Engineering has over 13,000 graduates including my son, Mark (Electrical
Engineering). Consistently the engineering seniors place first in a
national engineering exam over their counterparts at Stanford, Cal Tech,
and Harvard. Jack Lehman is, perhaps, one of the best renown graduates. 
Jack was the Chief Engineer on the Chunnell Project--connecting France with
Great Britain. Then an article jumped out at me from the Statesman. The
article reviewed the argument going on in Washington State concerning the
replacement of the Viaduct along the Seattle waterfront. Two alternatives
were being considered -- a new Viaduct or a tunnel. Either alternative
has its proponents. On a hunch I called the Washington Governor's office
and talked to Jennifer Ziegler, the Governors Transportation Advisor about
Idaho's Tunnel treasure. She said that she didn't think they had. I
gave her the relevant information, and then contacted Gov. Otter's office
about my call. I then called Rodger Madsen, Director of the Commerce
Department, and gave him all of the background information. It is best to
let these types of contacts to flow from the Governor-Governor level. It
will be interesting to see if Washington State just might utilize one the
University of Idaho College of Engineering's treasurers. And now with the
rest of the news:

1. Minimum Wage--The U.S. House of Representatives approved their
version of the minimum wage bill on Friday--$7.25 phased in over two years
with some tax breaks for businesses. This is basically the same bill that
will be in front of the Idaho House to vote on. I was a co-sponsor of the
alternative minimum wage bill which would have included the CPI so as to
adjust for inflation. Most of our neighboring states have the CPI
included. The federal legislation does not cover farm workers so I
checked our statutes. In 2001 we passed the minimum wage legislation to
cover farm workers and fortunately put in language that whenever the state
increases the minimum wage that farm workers continue to be covered.

2. HB172 -- This bill would add protection for victims of domestic
violence. This legislation came out of a series of meetings with Moscow
residents, Professor Elizabeth Brandt, Rep. Ringo, and myself. Dr. Brandt
crafted the legislation, and it will be up for a hearing in House Jud and
Rules on Monday. We have a witness who was covered by this program in
California and is willing to testify because her ex-husband died several
years ago. She changed her name and social security number several times
and moved from state to state. Her ex-husband always seemed to find her
address and pursue her. This victim suffered a fractured skull, spinal
injuries, broken ribs, and stab wounds. Her ex- husband even took out a
contract on her life. Under a protective court order in California, she
had an assigned body guard for the last two years. HB172 is based on
Washington State law where the victim's postal box essentially becomes that
of the Secretary of State. The program is working well in over 10 states.-

3. Vote-By-Mail -- This bill passed the House State Affairs
Committee by an 11-7 vote but was called back to committee because of some
reported technical problems. This bill is supported by the Sec. of State,
the Idaho Association of Cities, and the Idaho Association of Counties. 
In states that have adopted this legislation voter turnout has increased
and voter fraud does not seem to have been a major problem.

4. Scholarships -- The House Education Committee approved for print
a bill that would pay student loans to draw teachers to Idaho. The
proposal wants to attract and retain teachers in high need areas. The loan
forgiveness program would accept 100 teachers the first year and 100 more
for each year of the five year program. The first year would cost
$500,000 and increase to $2.4 million by the fifth year. Teachers would
apply annually to have 20% (up to $5,000 a year) of their student loans
paid off by the state. Emily Davis, student lobbyist for the ASUI
students, was a strong supporter of the bill. Students would have to secure
their own loans. I'm a co-sponsor of the bill and worked two years with
the State Board of Education and other legislators on crafting the legislation.

5. Elk Ranches -- The Senate Ag Committee voted 7-1 for a licensing
program for Idaho's 78 elk ranches. If the legislation passes it calls for
a $5 licensing fee for the state's nearly 6,000 farm raised elk. A $200 fee
would be paid to the Dept. of Agriculture, and the authority to shut down
operations not abiding by the rules would be given to the Dept. of
Agriculture. The bill moves on for a Senate vote.

6. University of Idaho Livestock and Environmental Center -- The
Governor has allocated about $10 million for this new facility to be built
in southern Idaho. The total cost would be closer to $25 million with the
other $15 million coming in from the University and the Dairy industry. 
There is an increased demand for the inclusion of the Caine Center in
Caldwell to be included as well as Fish and Game labs now located in Boise.

I'd appreciate your comments and suggestions. My e mail is
ttrail at house.idaho.gov and telephone
208-332-1260.

Rep. Tom Trail


---------------------------------------------
This message was sent by First Step Internet.
http://www.fsr.com/


=======================================================
List services made available by First Step Internet, 
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. 
http://www.fsr.net 
mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
=======================================================


  
---------------------------------
Looking for earth-friendly autos? 
 Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center.  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20070217/b87c6aa2/attachment.html