[Vision2020] Legislative Newsletter IX, March 2-7, 2009

[ttrail at moscow.com]

LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER IX--MARCH 2-7/2009
 
Constituents:
 
A sense of humor does keep one stable during these stressful economic 
times.  It is ironic that former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has now 
signed a multi-million dollar contract to write a book on "The Dark Side 
of Politics."  I wonder what message that conveys to the general public.  
It reminds me of a friend describing trout swimming in gin clear fishing 
waters with hundreds of anglers trying to catch them.  He said that the 
trout were as nervous as a felon at a Sheriffs Convention.  I doubt that 
Ex-Governor Blagojevich is very nervous at this date.  By the way the 
Idaho House passed a bill today ending death by the firing squad.
 
   l. Positive News--I thought it would be appropriate with all of the 
travail and bad news out in the world to focus on at least one good piece 
of news.  Micron just announced laying off 2,000 employees, and then the 
Idaho Statesmen front page featured an article on "Are Small Treasure 
Valley Businesses the Answer?"   The article featured a half page picture 
of Moscow's own Tony Dupont who is the owner of small company that makes 
Power Cordz, a synthetic cable stronger and lighter than steel for bikes 
and possibly cars and planes. The Lance Armstrong cycling team and many 
of the European professional bike riders used Tony's Power Cordz.
 
     Tony is the son of Dr. Ron and Fran Dupont of Moscow.  He graduated 
from Moscow High School and Civil Engineering at the University of 
Idaho.  My wife, Jo Ann, and I had lunch with Tony several years ago and 
his goal was to develop a small business to make useful and futuristic 
products.  The cables are just the beginning. DuPont plans to use revenue 
from Power Cordz sales to pay for a prototype of the continually variable 
transmission that he developed in college.  The transmission can change 
through an infinite number of gear ratios between maximum and minimum 
values.  Tony thinks his innovative design will make bikes and cars 15-20 
percent more efficient.  A consulting engineer says that it has the 
potential to revolutionize energy transmission.  A large Asian car 
company indicates that if they can be shown a prototype that works in the 
bike field that they will fund development for the auto industry
 
     Three years ago Tony developed his business alone in his Boise 
garage.  Today he has five employees.  Sales have doubled this past 
quarter.   We wish Tony all the success in the world, and what he is 
doing in developing his small but innovative business may be a wave of 
the future.

2. Teaching More Kids On Less Money--Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, Tom Luna has announced that the public education budget will 
probably be cut for FY10 by at least $60 million.  At the same time 
public school enrollment is estimated to expand.  Part of the expansion 
is because some parents are moving their children from private to public 
schools because they cannot afford tuition.  In the case of both parents 
having to work then home schooling is no longer an option.  It appears 
that Idaho Parents are voting with their feet.

     SPI Luna indicates that he wants to restrict the amount of money 
moving from rainy day accounts to beef up the budget shortfall, and in 
essence the budget cutbacks will simply mean fewer teachers teaching more 
students.  The impact on local schools such as Genesee and Kendrick 
indicates that they may go to a four day school week starting next fall.  
Bruce Bradberry, the Superintendent at Troy indicates that his experience 
shows you only save about 2% by going to a four day school week.  It is 
interesting that many of our competitors in the world economy in Europe 
and Asia are actually increasing the number of school weeks.  Are we 
headed down to road to becoming a Third Class Nation?
 
3.  Transportation Issues--The Governor is still trying to move ahead 
with his $200 million plus transportation package.  He is calling each 
individual member of the House Transportation Committee over to try and 
convince them to vote for his package.  Two of his proposals to increase 
the tax on rental cars were defeated in committee.  Frankly, there is 
little enthusiasm among legislators to increase taxes of any kind on 
their constituents in hard economic times. We have heard that money from 
the stimulus package may be used to put in an additional passing lane on 
Steakhouse Hill on Highway 95 north of Moscow.
 
Well, constituents, JFAC will start to set some budgets this next week as 
we more clearly see the way that the stimulus funds fit into the Idaho 
Budget.  In any case, it appears that the Idaho Legislature will be 
extending the session into early April.  Again, I'd like to hear from you 
concerning your observations, recommendation, and suggestions.  My e mail 
is ttrail at house.idaho.gov and phone 332-1184.
 
Representative Tom Trail




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