[Vision2020] Legislative Newsletter X--March 12-19, 2010

[Rep. Tom Trail]

Legislative Newsletter X--March 12-19, 2010

Constituents:

Well, we are down to the home stretch, and all predictions are that we
will finish up on the 26th of March—unless the legislative Ides of March
unveil a new plan.  Here are some of the happenings of this past week.

1.  Conscience Bill Passes House  --  The "conscience" bill on abortion,
emergency contraception and end of life care won final passage in the
House on a 51-18 vote.  Rep. George Eskridge and I joined 16 Democrats in
opposing the bill.  The bill permits any licensed health care
professional, from pharmacists to nurses, to refuse to provide any
treatment or medication that violates that conscience if it relates to
abortion, emergency contraception, end-of-life care or stem cells.   Rep.
John Rusche, a medical doctor, said that in his opinion the bill conflicts
with existing laws on medical treatment.  He noted that the bigger issue
is who is watching out for the patient.  Rep. Grant Burgoyne said that
Idahoans will see the bill as "an extraordinary intrusion by government
into their private lives--trampling on their right to be left alone to
make their own decisions about life and death.”

 2.   Voter ID Bill  --  HB496 passed the house on a 64-6 vote.  The bill
would require voters to show photo ID at the polls before they vote.  
One of my concerns is that the Secretary of State reports that there do
not appear to be any major problems with voter fraud in Idaho.  In one
sense this is a solution in search of a problem.

 3.   Higher Education Funding -- The University of Idaho and other
colleges are looking at a $32 million cut in funding for FY11.   All of
the universities will be asking for increasing student fees by 10-12%
from the State Board in April.  The increasing short sightedness of the
Legislature to not fund Higher Education will certainly not encourage
high school graduates to attend college--and in this area, Idaho already
ranks near the bottom nationally.  Everyone seems to realize that Higher
Education is the economic driving force for our economy, but the Idaho
Legislature seems to disregard this simple fact.   A recent study shows
that the UI contributed almost a billion dollars to the state's economy. 
Indications of things to come are outlined in a recent report which
indicates that Nevada's land-grant University in Reno is eliminating the
College of Agriculture.

  4.  Taxes -- Estimates are that the collectible tax gap in Idaho is
about $67 million.  JFAC did include enough money in the budget so that
an additional $16 million should be collected by the end of June. 
Legislation toward the first step toward taxing internet sales died in
the House Rev and Tax Committee on a 9-9 tie.  We need to get
legislation in place to protect main street Idaho business from the
advantages that internet sales now have.

What is interesting is that everyone is talking about tax reform.  
Governor Otter says that we need to look at tax exemptions.   Rep. Dennis
Lake, Chair of the House Rev and Tax Committee told me that next
legislative session we will be looking at major tax reform.   He came over
to my office and asked for a copy of tax legislation that Bob Huntley
(former Democratic candidate for governor) and I developed in 2006.  He
said he liked many aspects of the proposal.

     I think we need to talk about tax reform today and now and not wait
until much of the damage has been done to K-12, Higher Education, and
other essential state services and programs.   We've moved from a
natural resources economy to a service economy.  We've granted 75 tax
exemptions which take about $1.7 billion a year off the table from
the state's revenue stream and for the benefit of certain groups. 
The tax proposal that Mr. Huntley and I developed would tax certain
services and eliminate certain exemptions. The end result would allow
us to lower the sales tax from 6% to 5% and still end up with about
$200 million more for the state budget.  You'll be hearing more about
this in the future.

5. HB630 provides for a temporary income tax credit increase for tax years
2011 through 2015.  If the bill passes it will increase the income tax
credit for education,  Idaho Public TV, library and museum related
charitable contributions and a number of other state organizations.  For
individuals filing as singles the cap moves from $100 to $500 provided
that this doesn't exceed 50% of the tax liability.

 6.   Constitutional Amendments -- Three amendments would allow Idaho
cities and publicly owned hospitals to sign long term contracts without a
vote, if no taxpayer money is pledged to repay debts.

  The major budget bills will be coming up this next week.   Again, I'd
appreciate your comments and questions.

My e-mail is ttrail at house.idaho.gov and tel #208-332-1184.

Rep. Tom Trail