Could always exempt the vehicles modified for disabled accessibility.<BR><BR><B><I>Tom Trail <t.trail@earthlink.net></I></B> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"> <STYLE type=text/css><!-- blockquote, dl, ul, ol, li { padding-top: 0 ; padding-bottom: 0 } --></STYLE> <DIV>Donovan--very good idea. The problem is that things are so far and deep</DIV> <DIV>in the session that the bill is already crafted but I will certainly bring</DIV> <DIV>it up in the debate.</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>Rep. Tom Trail</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite">Item #4</BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite">How about a luxury car/suv fee for vehicles over $30,000? To "wholesale" charge all pickups under 8000 lbs regardless of age or value an extra $24 doesn't make sense.<BR><BR><I><B>ttrail@moscow.com</B></I> wrote:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER
XIII--MARCH 17-21/2008<BR><BR>Constituents:<BR><BR>We hope to be out of Boise sometime next week. Most committees are closed<BR>down, and there are only about three big major issues to resolve. The pen<BR>the Governor used to sign the dog fighting/felony bill is now on E Bay and<BR>the price yesterday was up to $355.00. Money will go to the local animal<BR>shelter in Moscow. On Tuesday Rep. Shirley Ringo, Carl Hulquist, Fran<BR>Halstead, and I will meet with Governor Otter as he signs HB501--protection<BR>of addresses of victims of domestic violence. HJM11--Scenic Rivers and<BR>Wilderness Act passed unanimously in the Senate. I also co-sponsored a<BR>House Concurrent Resolution calling for a study of concurrent enrollment.<BR>This resolution passed and is funded at $50,000. The State Board of<BR>Education will take this topic up at its meeting in Lewiston next week. I<BR>also filed last week to run for office this fall. Today I had my annual<BR>checkup with my cardiologist
and came out 100% okay. Dr. Writer will type<BR>up a letter which I can use during the campaign if the question of my<BR>health comes up as a campaign issue. The last remaining issues for the<BR>legislature to deal with:<BR><BR>1. SB1447--This is a proposal to cap medical benefits for current state<BR>employee retirees and to eliminate medical retirement benefits for future<BR>hires. The bill has cleared the Senate. If this becomes law I can see its<BR>impact on recruiting new hires as state employees or trying to retain<BR>outstanding state employees who were promised health benefits upon<BR>retirement. It sounds like the old story of the "Field of Broken Promises"<BR>carried out by a local university.<BR><BR>Under the new plan those retirees between 55 and 65 would see benefits<BR>capped at $1,800. Upon reaching eligibility for Medicare the benefits<BR>would be cut. State employees hired after June 30th would receive no<BR>retirement medical benefits. Many state workers
for years were promised<BR>full health benefits on retirement. Proponents say the bill will save the<BR>state more than $400 million over time. Many state workers took early<BR>retirement based on the state's promise of the state to cover these costs.<BR>UI retirees put their trust in the institution to cover health benefits<BR>upon retirement as part of the early retirement package. The University<BR>conveniently forgot their commitment. The issue will be on the State Board<BR>of Education's Agenda in Moscow on April 18th at 8:30 am. SB1447 should<BR>come to the House Human Resources Committee. We are working on a proposal<BR>to pull together a resolution calling for a study committee to work on the<BR>issue between sessions.<BR><BR>2. HB599--Elimination of business personal property tax--The Idaho<BR>Association of Commerce and Industry is the big sponsor of this bill. Over<BR>time it would eliminate about $110 million in personal property taxes. I<BR>was told early in
the session the bill would be revenue neutral--or no<BR>impact on counties. However, our County Commissioners, Pat Vaughn the<BR>Latah County Assessor, and Connie Ferguson, Treasurer, and other have run<BR>the figures and basically in order to compensate the loss of personal<BR>property tax the Commissioners would have to raise property taxes to make<BR>up the loss--perhaps as high as $5 million. Mayor Nancy Chaney is also<BR>against the bill.<BR><BR>There was a proposal to put a cap of $50,000 per business. This would<BR>have only cost about $10 million and covered 80% of the small businesses.<BR>There is great worry even among conservative legislators that with the<BR>downturn in the economy it will draw down the state revenue tax stream. If</BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE>the bill passes it means that more millions in taxes will be shifted to<BR>individual tax payers. As former legislator, Rep. Ken Robison said, "This<BR>will be another step in a 30 year pattern of
legislative policy: raising<BR>taxes paid mostly by individual taxpayers to give tax cuts to businesses."<BR><BR>3. HJM4--This is the proposed constitutional amendment that if enacted<BR>would allow local entities, i.e. counties to run local option tax proposals<BR>to fund specific infrastructure projects. The problem is that it would<BR>require a supermajority vote. In Latah County both the City and the County<BR>are studying a proposal to build a combined Law Enforcement Center. Under<BR>existing statute a local option could be run that would only require a 60%<BR>majority; however, the statute that authorizes this sunsets in mid-2009.<BR>Jack Nelson, Latah County Commissioner, favors the amendment as does the<BR>Idaho Association of Counties. The Idaho Association of Cities is not in<BR>favor. My guess is that HJM4 will narrowly pass the House but it will have<BR>major problems in the Senate.<BR><BR>4. Transportation--The Governor has been trying raise an
additional<BR>$200,000,000 for transportation infrastructure. His $150 registration fee<BR>proposal was rejected, but the House did pass GARVEE funding for<BR>$134,000,000. There are a series of House bill geared to raise more<BR>funds-H631 would raise registration fees for various types of trucks; H632<BR>raises registration by $24 for pickups, and all other vehicles having a<BR>weight under 8,000. This is predicted to raise $30 million. There are<BR>other proposals to increase a surcharge of $10 on special license plates,<BR>place a 4% tax on the daily lease or rental rates of leased cars, etc. If<BR>all these pieces fit together it could raise between $45-$110 million.<BR>These will be debated this coming week.<BR><BR>5. Grocery Tax Credit--The bill was passed by the Senate today and now<BR>goes to the Governor for signing.<BR><BR>These are the major issues remaining in the Legislative session. I'll<BR>probably wait until Sine Die to send out a wrap up newsletter.
Please send<BR>your comments to me by e mail to ttrail@idaho.gov<BR><BR>Rep. 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>=======================================================<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"><BR><BR><BR>Tom & Liz Ivie<BR></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"> </BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"> <HR SIZE=1> </BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite">Never miss a thing. <A href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51438/*http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs">Make Yahoo your homepage.</A></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><X-SIGSEP><PRE>-- </PRE></X-SIGSEP> <DIV>Dr. Tom
Trail<BR>International Trails<BR>1375 Mt. View Rd.<BR>Moscow, Id. 83843<BR>Tel: (208) 882-6077<BR>Fax: (208) 882-0896<BR>e mail ttrail@moscow.com</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR><BR>Tom & Liz Ivie<p> 
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