2011 Session Wrap Up
I want to thank you for granting me the honor of serving you in the Idaho House of Representatives. I have enjoyed meeting many of you and having email conversations with others. You have been my salvation this session with your supportive and encouraging words. I share your concerns, frustrations, fears and hopes. I believe we have been deceived and ignored by the Republican representatives and their leadership.
This has been a very disappointing session. When people ask how I’m doing, I reply, “Well, I’m a Democrat in Idaho!” They usually knowingly nod their heads and we laugh. I want you to know that although we laugh, I am serious about fighting for responsible, responsive, government for you.
Good government comes from listening to all sides and making good decisions based on the merit of each proposal rather than ideology. I heeded the thousands of emails, phone calls and letters in support of my stand to stop the cuts to education and Medicaid.
The newly refurbished statehouse easily accommodated public participation. Although hundreds of constituents testified about proposed legislation, Republicans gave little credence to their voices and passed legislation that hurt teachers, union members, the disabled, the mentally ill, and working Idaho families. Political ideology led to poor legislation that wasted precious tax dollars and cost the state jobs. The most onerous are highlighted below.
How did this session impact families in Idaho? The dominant rhetoric about the budget continues to be that Idaho families must bear the burden and “share sacrifices” – fewer teachers, less health care for our most vulnerable, and reduced social services – while the wealthy continue to enjoy substantial tax breaks. In other words, working families have to cope with a financial crisis created by Wall Street and sustained by short sighted leadership in our state, while those who got us here, pay no price.
This has been the third session in a row that we have cut programs in state government. This year, the most harmful cuts were to education and Medicaid. There was a $47 million reduction in the education budget and an additional shift of $13 million from teachers’ salaries to technology. Medicaid for the elderly, disabled, and mentally ill was cut by $35.5 plus the matching $75 million in Federal funds. Now I have learned that revenues are better than JFAC expected and we will end the year with more than $80 million surplus. So were these cuts really necessary?
Will a good education be there for Idaho’s children? Superintendent Luna’s three pieces of legislation stripped teachers of bargaining power and shifted $13 million from teacher salaries to technology. This could result in a loss of over 700 jobs.
Because school boards view teachers as critical to a good education, many school boards are now asking for levy overrides from their patrons. Essentially, this shifts funding from the state general fund to property owners. Many Districts have asked or will ask for overrides. In the March election, 23 districts asked for overrides, and 19 of those districts passed the levy. This demonstrates that most people are willing to tax themselves for a better education for their children.
Luna’s legislation is based on ideology from out-of-state “for profit” corporations and was drafted without stakeholder input. It was a surprise to teachers, superintendants and students. Luna is now visiting with those same stakeholders and asking them to enact the laws that they lobbied against during the session.
My Questions are: Will more students drop out of school because computers do not give individual attention or words of encouragement like teachers? How will our students compete in a world economy without a world class education?
Will higher education be affordable for Idaho families? To grow our economy we need an educated workforce. When the Chambers of Commerce survey Idaho businesses, high on the priority list of wants is an educated workforce and workforce training. 66% of jobs today require at least some college education.
Idaho colleges are working hard to accommodate the record numbers students who are upgrading their skills or going to college for the first time. Over the past 7 years, colleges have seen a decrease of 27% from the General Fund. All Idaho colleges have increased their tuition to offset this loss in revenue. This will undoubtedly strain family budgets and make colleges unaffordable, leaving some students to struggle with a life time of poverty. Many of our best and brightest will move out of Idaho for that well paying job.
Colleges also help our economy grow by producing entrepreneurs who start new businesses and create new jobs.
How did this legislature treat our most vulnerable? HB260 was the policy legislation that directed funding cuts for Medicaid. This policy carved out decreases for many adults with disabilities and the mentally ill. The result will be a shift from the Department Health and Welfare (state and federal money) to county indigent funds (no federal match) to cover hospitalization and sometimes incarceration for the disabled and mentally ill. We have worked hard to provide these services, knowing that preventative care costs less. We will loose over 1000 health care related jobs.
In the debate about cutting Medicaid I argued, “The Republican majority is trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class rather than asking the wealthy to chip in their fair share. Their obsession to cut the budget at all costs may work in the short-term and be good for politics, but it is bad policy. I believe that the vast majority of Idahoans believe that the best way to reduce the shortfall is a combination of spending cuts and an increase of revenue.”
Infants with special needs became the brunt of a cruel vote! My bill, SB 1080, was a bill to update language for services for infants and toddlers with special needs. This bill got caught crosswise in the politics of the session. Democrats were trying to raise awareness for the need for revenue for education and Medicaid. We were reading every bill in full on the House floor and asking that at least one piece of revenue legislation be given a hearing. The Republican majority was ignoring the process of hearing legislation other than their narrow list. They refused to have the hearing about funding. Ultimately, the Republican legislators retaliated by killing SB1080. The majority party is on record as voting against infants with special needs.
How do we treat our workers? Idaho’s average personal income continues to fall, now down to 49th in the nation. Yet the majority party increased its assault on unions who bargain for fair wages for working Idaho family incomes. Whenever someone tells you that Right To Work is working, ask them, “working for who?”
How will nullifying the federal health care Act benefit Idaho families? The governor signed an executive order that forbids state agencies from implementing the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). We are turning down $2.5 million in Federal money that would help state agencies set up exchanges and put us on track for covering the uninsured & underinsured by 2014. How many jobs would $2.5 million create? We are delaying the benefits of health care for the uninsured in Idaho which costs Idaho families and often increases the need for county indigent funds.
• So Americans can carry children up through age 26 on the family health insurance plans but not in Idaho.
• Other American children can get health care regardless of pre-existing conditions but not in Idaho.
• In other states an insurance company can not drop your coverage for making a claim but not in Idaho.
• Other Americans have no cap on their life time health coverage but not in Idaho.
• Other states are moving forward on creating exchanges, but Idaho must ask the Governor for a waiver to proceed, costing us time and money.
How is this good for Idaho?
How will closed primaries help voters? The majority party had a choice of several pieces of legislation that would have fixed the “unconstitutional” Idaho primaries. The bill I preferred was to make the current system legal and would not have cost the taxpayers a penny. Instead, they chose the more expensive route. HB 351 will cost taxpayers $215,000 from the state and $160,000 from the counties. The county portion will reoccur annually. The bill will ask everyone who votes in the primary to make public his/her party affiliation for the purpose of that vote. It does not effect the November elections.
Safety issues:
• Guns on campus was defeated in the Senate.
• Texting while driving did not pass again this year. Over 70% of the public sees texting as a very important issue.
• The House defeated a bill to take money away from driver’s education and instead send it to the general fund. Driver’s education has a proven track record of training teen drivers.
Legislation that I supported:
• GARVEE bonds: The last project will extend Highway 16 across State Street to Chinden Blvd.
• The Governors “Hire One” jobs bill. The Democrat’s jobs proposal to give a tax credit for any new well paying jobs was incorporated in the governor’s bill.
• Mandatory safety class for ATV drivers under age 16 before they use ATVs on US forest service roads.
• Expansion of the Idaho DNA Database: Persons convicted of any felony shall provide a DNA sample and a right thumbprint to the ISP.
• Minor changes to laws about animal cruelty: Companion animals were defined and are now under the authority of local law enforcement and production animals under the Dept. of Ag.
• Appropriation or $4.3 million for the Tax Commission: 48 temporary employees are now permanent, 22 temporary staff was added, and we eliminated furlough days for the commission. For every $1.00 we give to the tax commission we get about $13.00 back from taxpayers who owe.
A lot of good legislation was left in committee chair desk drawers.
• SB 1205 the anti bullying bill, passed in the Senate and the House education committee, but the majority party refused to let the House membership vote on it.
• Multiple bills that would have responsibly raise revenue to pay for the cuts to education and Medicaid. The tobacco tax was talked about all session. Studies show that an increase of $1.20 per pack would raise $51 million. Medicaid spends about $83 million on tobacco related disease and private insurance pays about $350 million per year in Idaho.
• Primary seat belt law would have raised $4.5 million for Idaho Department of Transportation.
Democracy is based on listening to views and ideas of all citizens and incorporating them into the best possible legislation. The Idaho Legislature this year has grown increasingly intolerant of divergent views and solutions even to the point of passing laws that are unconstitutional both to the Idaho and Federal Constitutions in order to further their ideological views.
House leadership rewards those who follow increasingly more conservative policies and publically punish those who dare to challenge their authority or when they choose a more moderate direction. Committee Chairmanships stripped away from talented legislators with years of experience because they voted more moderately (against leadership?) on some issues. They also punished a freshman Republican representative by giving her a bill that they planned to defeat because she had the audacity to run against their chosen candidate…and win.
I hope that some of the radical bills and proposals of this Legislature are catching the attention of the independents and more moderate Republicans in Idaho.
As we move forward my request of you is that you continue to stay engaged and maintain contact with me and your other representatives. And although the primary elections may make voting more difficult, I strongly urge you to overcome those difficulties and vote.