<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>Rep. Trail,</DIV>
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<DIV>Do I understand this correctly? That the Legislature cut public education by over $8 million (including salaries for low end paid teachers?), yet the State has $400 million in reserves?</DIV>
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<DIV>This doesn't reason out for me. </DIV>
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<DIV>Best Regards,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Donovan<BR><BR>--- On <B>Fri, 3/27/09, ttrail@moscow.com <I><ttrail@moscow.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid"><BR>From: ttrail@moscow.com <ttrail@moscow.com><BR>Subject: [Vision2020] Legislative Update XI, March 23-27, 2009<BR>To: vision2020@moscow.com<BR>Date: Friday, March 27, 2009, 2:28 PM<BR><BR>
<DIV class=plainMail>Legislative Newsletter XI, March 23-27, 2009<BR><BR>Constituents:<BR><BR> We are rapidly approaching April and it still looks like we have two <BR>weeks more to go before we close up shop in Boise. We are awaiting the <BR>March tax returns to the State to see if they fall above or below <BR>projects. April, of course, is the big month for tax returns. JFAC is <BR>setting budgets now with salary reductions of from 3-5% for state <BR>employees and teachers. Bob Vick of the Idaho Labor Department reported <BR>that 51,000 Idahoans are now unemployed in the state. We will be <BR>utilizing about $33,000,000 from stimulus monies over a three year period <BR>to provide for extended unemployment benefits. Rates for employers will <BR>also go down about 10 percent. Mr. Vick estimates that the unemployment <BR>rate may go up as high as 7
percent. Almost 135,000 Idahoans are now <BR>qualified for food stamps. Idaho's average food stamp payment per person <BR>is $112/month and will rise to $128/month on April 1st. On May 1st <BR>Idahoans will no longer have to have less than $2,000 in assets to be <BR>eligible for food stamps. Assets include a bank account, a boat, an RV <BR>and any more than one vehicle per adult per household. A Governor's <BR>spokesman said, "They had assets, and now all of a sudden they're finding <BR>themselves selling a house. Houses and boats just aren't moving. <BR>They've still got to eat. That's the issue we're addressing with this <BR>temporary change."<BR><BR> I've heard from a number of constituents that if cuts need to be <BR>made that those state employees who are at or below the poverty line <BR>should not be forced to take salary cuts. Several years ago I
conducted <BR>a study of University of Idaho employees and found that about 20 percent <BR>of the employees were at or below the poverty line. I certainly would <BR>support keeping those at or below the poverty level at the same wage <BR>level. This would be the compassionate approach.<BR><BR> It is interesting to note that we still have over $400,000,000 in <BR>reserves. I would prefer to utilize some of those funds now. As I've <BR>indicated in other newsletter we should consider major tax reform <BR>regarding tax exemptions. The tax exemptions which are not beneficial <BR>could be eliminated and the income stream could then be directed toward <BR>the General Fund. One good piece of news is that about 42 part time <BR>auditor positions have been restored to the Idaho Tax Commission. These <BR>are the auditors who were returning the state an
extra $5-$10 million a <BR>year to the state over their salaries and benefits.<BR><BR>1. Education -- The House voted 49-20 to cut $8.1 million from public <BR>education. The bill would freeze automatic experience based salary <BR>increases and phase out an early retirement incentive for teachers. I <BR>had several concerns because freezing the pay for even one year could <BR>lower teacher pay over their career as well as reduce their retirement <BR>benefits. This may pose a constitutional question. Again, I think <BR>that reserve funds could have resolved this problem for a year.<BR><BR> The House also voted to cut $4.2 million from the state bus <BR>reimbursements to local school districts. Only the State Department of <BR>Education supported the bill. I had major concerns that by reducing <BR>busing support that student safety could be
compromised. This was <BR>brought out by many that opposed the bill. <BR><BR> 2. Higher Education -- JFAC is reducing the budget for Higher <BR>Education by almost six percent and using some of the stimulus money to <BR>help ease student fee increases. <SPAN>; JFAC</SPAN>'s Higher Ed Budget that spends <BR>$398 million as compared to last year's $447 million. <BR><BR> 3. Fish and Game License Hikes -- The current bill as amended would <BR>leave license fees for residents at the same level but raise fees for out <BR>of state hunters. The bill is now in the Senate. Sporting groups <BR>generally support a 15 percent increase for Fish and Game, but many <BR>legislators say that the public in general opposes the increase viewing <BR>it as a tax increase.<BR><BR> 4. Day Care Regulation --This bill which passed the Senate would
<BR>provide for increased regulations of day care centers. The concern is to <BR>promote better safety and care for small children. The bill is now with <BR>the House Health and Welfare Committee.<BR><BR> 5. Palouse Land Trade Proposal --There appears to be much opposition <BR>concerning a U.S. Forest Service Plan to trade 28,000 acres of managed <BR>forest for about 39,000 acres of logged over timber near the Montana <BR>border. District 6 legislators met several times with concerned citizens <BR>and also the U.S. Forest representatives and employees of Western Pacific <BR>Timber Co. who own the land near the Montana border. I think the <BR>statement from John Krebs who worked many years as a ranger in the <BR>affected summarizes it best, "Our clear and urgent concern is that the <BR>proposed Upper Lochsa Land Exchange will trigger the eventual loss of a <BR>significant amount of readily accessible
public lands for the citizens of <BR>Latah County and the surrounding area." I personally agree with Mr. <BR>Krebs. The U.S. forest land stretching from McCroesky Park on the West <BR>to almost Elk River is some of the best hunting and fishing territory in <BR>the state. It is used by hikers, bird watchers, and many others for <BR>recreational purposes. Taxpayers have already paid for basic <BR>infrastructure of roads, bridges, etc. and selling it to a land <BR>development company would only limit access to our citizens. The <BR>District 6 legislators have asked the Latah County Commissioners to take <BR>a stand on this proposal, and we have also requested the U.S. Forest <BR>Service to solicit further citizen input.<BR><BR>Again, please send me your comments, concerns, and recommendations. My <BR>email is <A
href="http://us.mc381.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ttrail@house.idaho.gov" ymailto="mailto:ttrail@house.idaho.gov">ttrail@house.idaho.gov</A> and phone 208-332-1184.<BR><BR>Representative Tom Trail<BR><BR><BR>---------------------------------------------<BR>This message was sent by First Step Internet.<BR> <A href="http://www.fsr.com/" target=_blank>http://www.fsr.com/</A><BR><BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR> <A href="http://www.fsr.net/" target=_blank>http://www.fsr.net</A> <BR> mailto:<A href="http://us.mc381.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Vision2020@moscow.com"
ymailto="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</A><BR>=======================================================<BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></td></tr></table><br>