<DIV>" Transportation -- It appears that Governor Otter may introduce<BR>legislation <STRONG><U><EM>to increase the fuel tax by 4-5 cents/gallon</EM></U></STRONG> or support an<BR>initiative to increase vehicle registration fees. The increased funds<BR>(if the legislation passed) would be use to help build up the highway<BR>infrastructure. Further borrowing on GARVEE bonds is also in the mill. <BR>There is considerable opposition by many legislators in an election year to<BR>increase taxes."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>No increase in taxes on gas or food. This is just insane! What is wrong with you people that come up with this? Don't they know people are about ready to revolt as it is?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best Regards,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Donovan<BR><BR><BR><B><I>ttrail@moscow.com</I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER IX --FEBRUARY
18-22/2008<BR><BR>Constituents:<BR><BR>A touch of winter returned to Boise today with several inches of wet snow,<BR>but then we need some more snow for the late snow pack. Governor Otter<BR>must be up and around. I'll be going over to his office on Monday to<BR>witness him sign SB1260 -- the dog fighting/felony penalty bill. I've<BR>been getting some comments about my resolution to normalize trade relations<BR>with Cuba. The Governor is supporting the resolution. About 10 days<BR>after it was approved for printing by House State Affairs, Fidel Castro<BR>stepped down from power. My legislative colleagues are suggesting there<BR>must be some cause and effect -- never underestimate the power of a<BR>resolution. Here are some more of this week’s happenings.<BR><BR>1. HB501 -- Address Protection for the Victims of Domestic Violence --<BR>Rep. Shirley Ringo and I introduced the bill in House Jude and Rules. The<BR>bill aims at offering abuse victims protection by allowing them
to keep<BR>their addresses out of the public records. The bill would allow victims of<BR>domestic violence, stalking, rape or malicious harassment to apply for a<BR>program that keeps their addresses out of public records and instead lists<BR>the addresses for the Secretary of State's Office. Law enforcement<BR>agencies would still have access to the addresses. Professor Elizabeth<BR>Brandt, University of Idaho Law Professor, provided key testimony. Carl<BR>Hulquist, Moscow Community Activist, spoke about the value of a similar<BR>program in Washington State established in 1990 and now serves over 3,000<BR>victims of domestic violence. Fran Halstead of Kendrick reported that she<BR>was on the run for over 20 years from an abusive husband. He bound her<BR>hands and feet, slashed her with a knife and burned her with a soldering<BR>iron before she escaped. After he went to jail he hired a contract killer<BR>to murder Fran. Fran moved about every year to escape from her
persistent<BR>husband who relentlessly pursued her. She was out of contact with family<BR>for years at a time. The bill was passed out with a unanimous vote by<BR>the Committee and will be up on the House floor for a vote probably next week.<BR><BR>2. State Economy -- all signs continue to indicate Idaho slipping<BR>into the recession mode. Locally this is reflected with the Bennett<BR>layoffs. JFAC continues to cut back on budgets. Salary increases for<BR>state employees is now being set at 3% instead of the 5% originally<BR>requested by the Governor, and there is still the question of medical<BR>benefits which the Governor wishes to reduce. The Governor has cut back on<BR>many of his requests, but is still holding out for funding the Idaho<BR>Opportunity Act Scholarship Program.<BR><BR>3. Transportation -- It appears that Governor Otter may introduce<BR>legislation to increase the fuel tax by 4-5 cents/gallon or support an<BR>initiative to increase vehicle registration
fees. The increased funds<BR>(if the legislation passed) would be use to help build up the highway<BR>infrastructure. Further borrowing on GARVEE bonds is also in the mill. <BR>There is considerable opposition by many legislators in an election year to<BR>increase taxes.<BR><BR>4. Grocery Tax and Business Personal Property Tax -- My feeling is that<BR>we will definitely see some type of grocery tax relief by the end of the<BR>session. The amount and type still remain a mystery, but more proposals<BR>are being rolled out for examination. The business personal property tax<BR>bill will be introduced within the next two weeks. This would phase out<BR>the tax over 7-8 years and the sponsors say that it will be revenue<BR>neutral and not impact municipalities or counties. I want to see the<BR>figures first.<BR><BR>5. ISTARS -- The second version of Superintendent of Public<BR>Instruction, Tom Luna, merit pay plan was introduced Thursday in the<BR>Senate Education Committee. The
new version would provide a $1,200 annual<BR>bonus per person for leadership. A $1,200 annual bonus would be available<BR>to hire/retain hard-to-fill positions utilizing these funds. Up to $1,200<BR>annual bonus per person could be awarded if the entire school demonstrates<BR>growth and overall excellence in student performance.<BR>The original ISTARS plan called for a total of $65 million, and some<BR>JFAC members felt the plan if fully implemented would cost over $100<BR>million. The budget for ISTARS has been scaled back to about $30 million,<BR>and it seems to be going down every day as the economy gets worse.<BR><BR>There are some major problems with ISTARS-Lite. Mr. Luna is only<BR>recommending a 1% increase in the base for teachers and a $500/year<BR>increase for new teachers. It appears that some teachers and certificated<BR>staff will not be eligible for any of the bonuses, and many complain that<BR>bonuses can be given and taken away (perhaps on the whim of an
administrator)<BR>The idea of evaluating teacher performance or their impact on student<BR>scores as the only way of awarding bonuses is highly problematical. It is<BR>almost a one shoe fits all approach. Dr. William Sanders stated that<BR>basing quality teaching on one test score (and that test score may not even<BR>have a high degree of validity/reliability) is absolutely wrong. The test<BR>score should only be of one of many different parameters used for teacher<BR>evaluation. Individual student growth will vary greatly between students<BR>and may not accurately demonstrate the good teaching which may have<BR>preceded the tests. All students have different learning styles and<BR>experts agree that a variety of means is the most effective way to measure<BR>student learning. Students who come from homes with poor socio-economic<BR>background or homes with alcoholic or drug addicted parents will test very<BR>differently than students from higher income levels. Research
also<BR>indicates that parents/family are very important factors affecting a<BR>student's learning. If merit pay is to be considered, than a broader<BR>approach needs to be developed to more accurately measure the impact of a<BR>teacher on student performance.<BR><BR>There were a number of other important legislative initiatives this week,<BR>but I think that I've covered the major ones in this week’s report. I'll<BR>be glad to hear from you regarding comments and recommendations. My e<BR>mail is ttrail@house.idaho.gov and telephone is 332-1184.<BR><BR>Representative Tom Trail<BR><BR><BR>---------------------------------------------<BR>This message was sent by First Step Internet.<BR>http://www.fsr.com/<BR><BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR>http://www.fsr.net
<BR>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================</BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p> 
<hr size=1>Never miss a thing. <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51438/*http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs"> Make Yahoo your homepage.</a>