<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman"">Constituents—we  are in that smoggy time in the
legislative session between Groundhog’s  Day and April Fool’s
Day. We will survive as other Idaho Legislative  sessions have.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>Legislators serving in this session
can learn from the experiences of those who have served before. <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For  example, in 1897, a member from
Custer County “offered an amendment to  the Lord’s prayer so
that it would thereafter read “O Lord, deliver us  from the Idaho
Legislature.” <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And all of
the people shouted, “Amen!!”</span><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman""></span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""> </span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman"">In 1897, a man named Higgs bought 44 bottles from the Capitol
janitor. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“None of them
will hold over a pint, and most of them not more than half that amount.
<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They are relics of the last
Legislature.” <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Authorities called the bottles
“these receptacles of the inspiration of eloquence.” <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Two  years later, in March 1899,
“Sixty-eight whiskey flasks were found in  the nooks and corners
around the Capitol buildings following the  adjournment of the
Legislature.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>Obviously,
the legislators were well liquefied.</span><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman""></span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""> </span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman"">As  late as 1895, under a headline “Third House
Nonsense,” the paper  reported that along with other absurdities,
the pranksters had proposed a  bounty on mosquito scalps, moving the state
agricultural college to Ola  and annexing Nampa to the state of Missouri.
<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In  1897, when the Oregon
Short Line railroad offered free transportation  to legislators and their
friends and families for an excursion to Salt  Lake City, there was
standing room only in four fully loaded passenger  cars.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>The Statesman took obvious  delight
in reporting, “As the train left the depot a bystander called  out
‘now we’re safe for three days.’” <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That  is very close to Mark
Twain’s observation that “No man’s life, liberty,  or
property is safe when the Legislature in in session.”<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>An  1899 session of the Third House
enacted a number of laws, including one  “to regulate the amount of
work to be performed by a man whose wife  takes in washing for a living.
<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was referred to the
committee on cruelty to animals.” And now on to current legislative
news.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""></span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""> </span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><strong
style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman"">SB1303—Cruelty to Animals bill</span></u></strong><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman"">  was passed out of the Senate Agriculture
Committee.   This legislation  calls for a felony penalty on the
third conviction within a 15 year  period. <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Normal agricultural practices are
excluded from the bill. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There
is also an initiative concerning cruelty to animals in the process. <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Supporters are gathering signatures
to put it on the ballot. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The
initiative more specifically defines the term “torture” unlike
the Senate bill. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At least it
looks like we are making progress in this area.</span><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""></span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""> </span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><strong
style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman"">In-State Tuition for U.S. Military</span></u></strong><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman""><span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>-<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>The  Idaho Senate voted 35-0 to
approve the measure, which allows members of  the U.S. armed forces to
meet residency requirements and pay in-state  tuition at Idaho’s
universities and colleges immediately upon their  return home.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>Under current law these soldiers
would have to live in Idaho for at least a year before they could pay
in-state tuition.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>The
difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition may mean thousands of
dollars each year. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Lawmakers
have previously moved to allow out-of-state members of the Idaho National
Guard to pay in-state tuition.</span><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""></span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""> </span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><strong
style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman"">Tweaking the ‘Student Come first’
laws—</span></u></strong><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman"">legislation introduced in the Idaho House would broaden the
pool of teachers competing for leadership bonuses. <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A  statewide pay-for-performance
plan approved last year rewards teachers  who raise student achievement
and take on hard-to-fill positions or  leadership roles.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>But as the law  is currently
written, teachers with fewer than three years of experience  would not be
eligible to boost their pay under the leadership piece of  the plan.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>If passed the legislation would
allow new educators to compete for the leadership bonuses.</span><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""></span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""> </span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><strong
style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman"">Efforts to reduce drug trafficking by Idaho State
Police</span></u></strong><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman""><span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>-<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>The Idaho State Police have made
strong efforts to lessen drug trafficking throughout our state. <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>ISP patrols over 60,000 miles of
highway.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>In 2011, they issued
over 78,000 citations. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This
vigilance played an important role in the reduction of traffic fatalities
to 168 last year. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Five years
ago, there were 270 fatal accidents in Idaho, but these mishaps have been
steadily declining.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>One source
reported that Idaho now “leads the nation in fatality
reductions.”</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""></span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""> </span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><strong
style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman"">Collection of On-Line Taxes</span></u></strong><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman"">-over  the past few years, attempts to develop a system to
collect tax that is  due on internet sales has not emerged out of the
House Revenue and Tax  Committee. <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Idaho Constitution requires that
all revenue bills originate in the House. <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Failing  to collect the internet
sales tax cheats the treasury out of tens of  millions of dollars each
year and causes Idaho businesses to operate at a  disadvantage to out-of
state online retailers.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>This 
year there appears to be increased support for an initiative to make 
Idaho part of a cooperative of states that would collect the tax. <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It appears the Governor may even be
on board.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""></span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""> </span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman"">That’s all for this week.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>Please send your comments to me.
<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My e mail is <a
target="_blank" href="mailto:ttrail@house.idaho.gov"><span
style="color:blue">ttrail@house.idaho.gov</span></a> or <a target="_blank"
href="mailto:thomasftrail@gmail.com"><span
style="color:blue">thomasftrail@gmail.com</span></a> <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My office telephone is
208-332-1184.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times
New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New
Roman""></span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman""> </span></div>
<div
style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal" class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New
Roman"">Rep. Tom Trail</span></div>