ELLIOT WERK Legislative
News Twisted Priorities March 13, 2010
Volume 5, Number 4 In This
Issue ·
2010 Election
Update ·
Courtrooms Over
Classrooms ·
Road Safety Legislation
Update Sign
Up to Follow me on
Twitter! Handy Web Links Donate to My
Upcoming Campaign http://www.actblue.com/ Visit My Home Page
at http://www.elliotwerk.org Visit the Legislative Web Page at
http://www.legislature. Visit the Secretary of State –
Elections Page at http://www.idsos.state. Contact Me Phone:
658-0388 Legislative
Messages: 332-1000 Snail
Mail: 2010
Election Update I
will be seeking another term in the Idaho State Senate. If you would like
to contribute to my campaign please visit http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/13585. Courtrooms
Over Classrooms I assume that everyone reading
this newsletter understands just how dire the budget situation in our
state has become. Faced with a poor economy, no job creation vision or
plan, inefficient tax collection, and an exemption system that “forgives”
almost $1 billion in tax revenue, the state budget has shrunk about $750
million in the last two years! Faced with a similar situation
what would you do? Likely you would ensure that every last penny you spent
would go to the best and highest use. That new trinket in the store? No
way. That Kobe beef at $20 a pound? Not possible. Paying the rent or
mortgage? Yes, that you would do. Well in a year like this when
the majority party is cutting our public schools by almost $130 million
(and $200 million since 2009) while forgoing $60 million in tax
collections how are they prioritizing your taxpayer dollars? On public
schools, higher education, health, or safety? No, I’m afraid not. Your
legislative leaders have decided to spend your money on lawsuits! Lots of
lawsuits! This is the year to bash the
federal government by passing laws designed to invite lawsuits or to
engage in that election year tradition of pro-life legislation that has
nothing to do with life (see my previous newsletter about the “conscience”
bill). So far this session we have
seen at least five bills that either are unconstitutional (both state and
federal) or violate various aspects of federal law. The press reported
that one bill sponsor actually stated that the entire point of his
legislation is to provoke a lawsuit from the federal government to go all
the way to the Supreme Court (the fiscal note on his bill states that is
will cost the state nothing belying his lack of understanding that state
law obligates the AG to defend state statutes!). So what does all this mean in
a year when any expense in one area takes away from
another? It means that if these bills
pass (and they will – after all this is an election year!) the taxpayers
of the state of Idaho will likely shell out between $2 and $5 million
fighting lawsuits over the next few years. What it means is that the Republican
legislators that support these bills are choosing courtrooms over
classrooms.
Full employment for lawyers while our students are packed like sardines in
classrooms. You just need to hope that a
new election might bring some positive change to a legislature that has
lost focus on what is important to the people of
Idaho. Road
Safety Legislation Update After a summer of carnage on
the roads of Idaho (five cyclists killed and numerous serous injuries), I
began working with law enforcement, cycling groups, and other legislators
to evaluate Idaho road safety laws for all road users. Out of this
discussion came four bipartisan bills designed to make the roads safer for
all users. These bills are: SB1348 – Requiring 3 feet to pass a
vulnerable road user (like runners and cyclists) and requiring vulnerable
road users to pull out when holding up three or more motor
vehicles. SB1349 – Requires cyclists to enter
crosswalks predictably without causing an imminent hazard and requires a
brake on all bikes. SB1350 – Creates a misdemeanor
penalty for harassing (throwing objects, swerving toward, etc.) a
vulnerable road user. SB1351 – Creates an enhanced civil
penalty of $75 for violations of cycling laws by cyclists and drivers with
the money going into a Safe Routes to School fund to help finance road
safety projects in school zones. SB1349 passed the Senate and
is in the House for consideration. SB1351 failed in the Senate amid
concerns about fining the “paper boy” and some language
issues. SB1348 and 1351 are awaiting
amendments in the Senate. Current discussions have revealed some concerns
from trucking associations and prosecutors. We are currently evaluating
these concerns. We will either go forward with
limited amendments or pull the bills in favor of working with these groups
to gain consensus on issues of concern for the 2011 legislative
session. Passing legislation is a
difficult process and these speed bumps are not unexpected. It often takes
a few years to find the consensus that is required to move legislation
forward. I’ll keep you
posted. If you have any concerns or
ideas for legislation please contact me at elliotwerk@gmail.com.
entity/fundraisers/13585
Find out what is happening, what I’ve
been up to, or fill out my latest survey
idaho.gov/
Excellent place to
read bills, track legislation, contact legislators, and
more
id.us/elect/eleindex.htm
Look at campaign sunshine reports,
lobbyist registration, and
more
Or How the Idaho Legislature
Chose Lawyers Over Students
|
| ||
|
ELLIOT WERK |
Legislative
News Sleight
of Hand | |
|
February 28, 2010 Volume 5, Number 3 | ||
|
In This Issue · The (Budget) Fix is in! · “Freedom” Sign
Up to Follow me on
Twitter! Handy Web Links Visit
My Home
Page
at
http://www.elliotwerk.org Visit the Legislative Web Page at
http://www.legislature. Visit the Secretary of State –
Elections Page at
http://www.idsos.state. Contact Me Phone:
658-0388 Legislative
Messages: 332-1000 Snail
Mail: |
The
(Budget) Fix is in! Since we are mid way through
the 2010 budget year (our state fiscal year begins on July 1 and goes
until June 30) any cuts to budgets now have twice the impact. This is
because the budget cut can be spread over only ½ of the fiscal year. So a
cut of 5% to an agency in January is like a 10% cut over the course of the
entire fiscal year. This means added layoffs, furloughs, or cuts in direct
citizen services. For public schools the issues
are even more difficult. Public schools begin their year in August with
contracts for teachers in anticipation of a certain number of students and
classes. Children are assigned to classes based on the number of teachers
and the distribution of children in various grades. A large midyear cut
would cause widespread disruption as teachers were laid off and classrooms
were reconfigured to adjust to staff reductions. In addition, the issue of
teacher contracts that extend through the year would be difficult to
quickly renegotiate (hence the recent tempest about teacher salary
increases mainly mandated by contracts). So the new plan involves
providing access to state reserve funds that schools can use to cover the
midyear budget cuts now. That will minimize disruption during this school
year and allow the schools to plan more effectively for reduced budgets
next year. The down side is that budget
cuts for the 2011 fiscal year will be very steep for public schools (like
falling off a cliff). When fiscal year 2011 begins the schools will face
an unprecedented $125 million to $150 million in budget cuts! And
remember, the number of students continues to rise as do health insurance
costs, etc. In essence the majority party
is proposing that public schools borrow now and pay big
later. And remember, this is all
against a backdrop of a refusal to collect over $250 million in taxes owed
to the state ($60 million of which is easily collectable), refusal to
finally deal with special interest exemptions, and a lack of vision or
proposals to help the private sector create jobs. I will keep you posted about
budget issues in future newsletters. "Freedom" Many of you might remember the
absurdly named federal "Clear Skies Act" that sought to allow more air
pollution. Or the grand-daddy of all inappropriately named federal
legislation the “Patriot Act” that leaves ordinary American’s vulnerable
to government spying and sought to nullify constitutional protections.
Well in an election year we
have a new trend in oxymoronic legislation naming. When you see the word
"Freedom" in a title - Run! Using freedom this year actually means
that your freedoms are being undermined and stolen. One example that passed the
Senate this last week is the "Freedom of Conscience Act" (SB1353).
Let’s take a look at this little gem to determine exactly whose freedoms
are being protected. The "Freedom of Conscience
Act" purports to protect the freedom of healthcare providers (whatever
that broad term means) to exercise religious or moral freedom in treating
or advising consumers seeking services. It goes far beyond abortion
placing stem cell treatment and end-of-life care in the abortion
statute. This bill ensures the
healthcare providers freedom while denying the freedom of everyone else to
receive accurate and complete treatment or
information. Imagine this scenario; you
have an aging parent that is very sick. You need end-of-life counseling
during this very difficult time to determine how best to handle these
emotionally charged decisions. You find a healthcare provider in the
hospital that gives you information about potential options for your
parent. You rely on that information to choose a course of
treatment. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to
you, that healthcare provider has notified the hospital that they cannot
(for moral or religious reason) provide customers with information about
pain medications or other types of end-of-life options. So as a consumer
dealing with sensitive and emotionally difficult issues associated with a
parent, you are never given the full range of options and your decision is
basically uninformed. That is the freedom in this
legislation. The freedom for healthcare providers to withhold treatment or
information without your knowledge. They get all the freedom and you get
all the consequences. | |
|
|
||
|
| ||
|
ELLIOT WERK |
Legislative
News Hope
and Despair | |
|
February 8, 2010 Volume 5, Number 2 | ||
|
In This Issue
Sign Up to Follow me on
Twitter! Handy Web Links Visit
My Home
Page
at
http://www.elliotwerk.org Visit the Legislative Web Page at
http://www.legislature. Visit the Secretary of State –
Elections Page at
http://www.idsos.state. Contact Me Phone:
658-0388 Legislative
Messages: 332-1000 Snail
Mail: |
The
Idaho Jobs and Opportunity Blueprint (IJOBs) I also wrote about the vision
of Idaho Democrats for creating jobs and opportunity in Idaho. We
understand that the way out of this recession (and the budget woes that
are causing cuts to public schools) is through jobs. I teased that we
would announce an action plan. Well last week we held a press conference
and laid out the Idaho Jobs and
Opportunity Blueprint (IJOBs) IJOBs consists of six
legislative proposals aimed at quickly creating jobs in Idaho. The focus
of IJOBs is on small business since over 80% of the jobs in Idaho are
created by small businesses. IJOBs is designed to turn unemployment checks
into paychecks. Here is a brief run down of the individual proposals.
Pillaging
Public Schools I hope that many of you
remember the 2006 special legislative session (I called it the special
interest session). Called in the midst of the property tax unrest and a
testy legislative election, the majority party (led by interim Governor
Risch) took the property tax levy away from our school districts and added
a penny to the sales tax (a 20% increase). At the time the Democrat’s
fought the proposal for many reasons. First and foremost it removed
the diversified funding base from our schools (reliance on two revenue
sources went down to one – the sales tax). We also fought against it
because most Idaho families actually saw a tax increase because two thirds
of the levy reduction went to special interests and vacation home owners
while most of the added sales tax is paid by homeowners (business being
mostly exempted from paying the sales tax). Well the chickens have now
come home to roost. While the property tax is a fairly stable source of
funds (as we have all seen as our home values have dropped much more
slowly than they rose), the sales tax is volatile. The results of the great
homeowner tax increase of 2006 are in and they’re not pretty. While the
removal of the levy takes away about $315 million per year from school
funding, the sales tax currently brings in only about $190 million. That
gap – about $125 million per year - robs support from our children during
the most important activity in their lives –
learning. The Governor and the majority
in the legislature are now looking at more than $130 million in cuts to
our public schools. These cuts will have a devastating impact on student
performance by (among other things) curtailing extra help for reading and
math, ending enrichment programs like music and art, and requiring teacher
layoffs and increases in class sizes. I believe that fiscal
responsibility is a minimum requirement for service in the legislature. I
decided to run for the legislature in 2002, in part, because the
legislature acted recklessly in passing the 2001 tax cut – bankrupting the
state within 18 months and forcing a sales tax increase. In 2006 they
again failed in this minimal duty and now our children will pay
dearly. I wanted to be sure that you
remembered the lessons of history that the majority in our legislature
just might not want to remember – especially in another election
year. | |
|
|
To
be removed from this newsletter list please respond to this message with
remove in the subject line. If you received duplicate versions please
forgive me. | |
|
| ||
|
ELLIOT WERK |
Legislative
News The 2010 Legislative Session
Begins | |
|
January 17, 2010 Volume 4, Number 1 | ||
|
In This Issue A Less Than Inspiring State of the State A Vision for Idaho Public Meetings Handy Web Links Visit
My Home
Page
at
http://www.elliotwerk.org Visit the Legislative Web Page at
http://www.legislature. Visit the Secretary of State –
Elections Page at
http://www.idsos.state. Contact Me mailto:elliotwerk@mindspring.com Phone:
658-0388 Legislative
Messages: 332-1000 Snail
Mail: |
Please note that the color of this
newsletter edition honors the Boise State Broncos football victory in yet
another Fiesta Bowl. GO BRONCOS!
The 2007 Legislative
Session
The 2010 legislative session has begun with a bleak speech from the Governor and a strong response from the Idaho Democratic legislators.
It was really interesting to see the Republican "leadership" scrambling to respond to our state of the state response. In the past they ignored our press conference. But last year they got caught exposed by our Potholes over People statements when the governor proposed increasing taxes to fill potholes while cutting school budgets.
This year the entire House Republican "leadership" and many House members attended our press conference and the Senate Republican "leadership" responded with a bellicose press release with all the standard stuff. The
session will certainly be interesting with:
A
Less Than Inspiring State of the State The
legislative session began with a whimper last week as the Governor
delivered his state of the state speech. I was hoping to hear an
optimistic, visionary speech backed up with a plan to pull our state out
of this recession and get our people back to work in quality
jobs. After
all, in troubled times we look to our leaders for vision and a plan so
that we can all pull together and to get the job
done. No
such luck - we got neither vision nor a plan. What
we got was a Governor intent on slashing public schools, destroying our
state parks system (his recent announcement to "save" the parks is a short
term fix that eliminates 25 jobs - adding to our toxic jobless
problem) and Idaho Public Television, and trashing the federal government.
In
a speech of over 6,500 words (and almost an hour) we heard only one
mention of creating jobs - just one. And, amazingly enough, no
legislative proposals to jump start our economy or help the private sector
create new jobs! No jobs and no proposals. Based
on this inauspicious beginning and all other indications this week, it
looks like it will be a long cold winter in the legislature and for the
people of our great state. On a more positive note - you can count on me to fight to create jobs and opportunity for Idaho and to help jump start our economy.
I'll
keep you posted. A
Vision for Idaho Idaho
Democrat's recognize that during these lean times we
must squeeze every drop of efficiency from state government
while we maintain critical services like public schools and disability
services for young children. We must tighten our belts just like
families all across Idaho must do. But
Idaho Democrat's also recognize that the people of Idaho are scared and
they are looking for their leaders to exercise leadership, to provide a
path back to prosperity, and a plan to get our economy going again and
create private sector jobs. In the vacuum left by the governor and
Republican "leaders" in the House and Senate, Idaho Democrat's responded
to the state of the state speech with a positive vision and an aggressive
plan of action. In contrast to the state of
the state we presented a vision of a future of opportunity, good jobs,
economic growth, and prosperity.
A future where our citizens weather economic storms better than
those in other states. A
future where our children get a world-class education that draws employers
here. A future where our
students can afford to go to college and stay in Idaho for rewarding
careers.
We
will roll out an action plan next week that will include legislation aimed
at helping small businesses in Idaho to add jobs and pull us quickly out
of the recession. No hand outs but a hand up that will help small business
create jobs while adding revenue to the state coffers in time to fund
public schools in 2011. While
the Republicans see doom, Idaho Democrat's see opportunity. We know that
with a bold vision followed by a bold plan that we can get to the most
important issue facing Idahoans today - JOBS. You
can count on the fact that I (and my fellow Democrat's) will be focused on
jobs and the economy during this entire legislative session. The people of
Idaho need a vision and a plan. We will fill the need and work for a
better future for our state. | |
|
|
| |
|
|
Team 17 Newsletter | |||||||||||||||||
|
Dec 17, 2009
In this Issue: Getting Ready for the New
Year Work Between Sessions Plans for 2010 |
Winter Update ~ FROM TEAM 17 | |||||||||||||||||
|
Team 17 Senator Elliot
Werk Representative Bill
Killen 2010 Public Forums
Wednesday, January
6th 7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m. at the
Library
February 10th 7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m. at the South Junior High Library Wednesday, March
10th 7:00p.m.
to 9:00p.m. at the Library
April 14th 7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m. at the
We
need your expertise ---------------------- To fund our
mailings and other service needs Contribute
with a click ---------------------- |
Getting Ready for the New
Year Greetings! As many
of you know the time between legislative sessions is busy for Team 17.
Ideas for legislation must be developed and evaluated early so that
interest groups, citizens, and legislators have an opportunity to provide
feedback prior to the legislative session. From the Desk of Senator
Werk: The time between
legislative sessions has been very busy for me. I have gotten a
reputation across the country for progressive energy legislation (my high
performance school building legislation has been cited countrywide as an
example of innovation in energy policy). This led to an invitation to
participate in the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Energy
Horizon Institute. This is a certificate program in energy competency
produced with the help of the I also attended a US
Green Building Council green schools meeting in D.C. It was an interesting
few days as we looked at the costs and benefits of green schools (very
high cost savings – very high benefits). I was also invited
to join a group of legislators from around the country in an effort to
pass federal clean energy and climate change legislation. Regardless of
our views on climate change or details of any bill, the need for a clean
energy economy in the Closer to home I
have been working on (what seems like) an endless stream of legislation
for the 2010 legislative session. Here is a list of my
efforts: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs – In
a Team 17 effort, we are preparing a slate of bills for small businesses
to foster job creation and retention in our state. It is time to build a
modern economy here in Energy – I have spent many hundreds of hours
evaluating energy issues in our state. I’m working with a bi-partisan
group to evaluate ideas to enhance energy conservation and efficiency in
our state (when we save energy we delay the need for new, expensive power
plants). We have not yet developed a legislative strategy but we are
evaluating many options and may bring legislation to try and lessen our
power consumption and keep our power rates low. Cycling Safety – With the spate of cyclist deaths and
injuries this year I have worked with Sen. John McGee (chair of the Senate
Transportation committee) to prepare seven pieces of legislation to help
improve cyclist/driver safety. In addition, I helped the Department of
Motor Vehicles improve the section regarding cycling rules in the drivers
education manual used to study for the written drivers license
tests. Tobacco – I have prepared legislation to ban the
sale of dissolvable tobacco (a new product that looks like mints and is
being marketed to teens). In addition, I have legislation to have the
Idaho State Police charge retailers for licenses to sell tobacco and to
pay for tobacco inspections (right now we taxpayers pick up these
costs). Unloading the Individual
Taxpayer – As individual
taxpayers we pay the cost of state services for many industries. Services
such as permitting and inspections in water resources, environmental
quality, and agriculture should be paid by the customer rather than the
taxpayer. I am evaluating how to convert some areas of our state agencies
from taxpayer to user fee support. This will free up funds for priorities
like public schools. I will also have
bills to raise the homeowners’ property tax exemption to $150,000
(currently around $100,000), enhance ethics, and clear away unneeded tax
exemptions (so we the people aren’t continually footing the bill for
special interests). I hope to see you
soon at one of our upcoming legislative forums or at our weekly office
hours! From the Desk of Representative
Killen: With the new session
fast approaching, the focus on prospective legislation is heightening. In
some cases the “new” legislation is in reality a rerun of what we in the
minority party have sought to put forward in past sessions. One of these “golden oldies” is our
continuing effort to empower local communities with the ability to make
decisions at the local level based upon what the citizens in each
community find most needful and are willing to support with their own hard
earned dollars. Local Option
Authority was again stymied in the House last year because of the
intransigence of Republican House leadership. They have refused to even
allow a print hearing on any such bills unless they contain an unnecessary
constitutional amendment setting forth limits on our ability to govern
ourselves. It is my intent to
make another attempt to secure support for allowing the people in each
city or county to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to use
their dollars for community projects. To me this is perhaps one of the
most basic of our democratic principles, that of self-government by the
people. Hopefully House Republican leadership will see the light this time
around. From the Desk of Representative
Chew: The Legend Drug
Donation Act was passed this last spring. It will re-direct medications
that would otherwise be wastefully destroyed to patients who desperately
need them. I continue to work
with the Board of Pharmacy to implement the procedures that will put this
act into practice providing medications to those who can’t afford
them. I looked for what
works in healthcare at home and abroad. Traveling to Visiting Always the teacher,
I am winding up my fall teaching schedule. I taught anatomy to our future
nurses, healthcare technicians and primary medical providers this year at
the Happy Holidays one
and all! Contacting Team
17
Public
Forums to Discuss Legislative Issues
The legislative forums
that we have held in past years have proven a great way to keep in close
contact with the people we represent. Of course we want to keep these
lines of communication open and we will hold more forums this
year. Here is our forum
schedule.
Weekly Office
Hours Once
again Team 17 will offer the people that we serve the opportunity to meet
individually with the Team on a first come - first served basis. Office
hours will be every Wednesday, beginning on January 20th, 7:00 - 8:30 PM in
the You should soon be
receiving a postcard from Team 17 with our forum and weekly office hour
schedule, as well as our contact information. Please be sure to keep this
postcard in a handy place so that you always know how to communicate your
ideas and concerns to us. Our
web sites are constantly being updated with the latest information, so
visit them often.
We want to stress
what an honor it is to represent you in the Please feel free to
contact any one of us at any time at team17@cableone.net, or by phone at 658-0388 (Sen. Werk) or
344-0098 (Rep. Chew) or 345-2956 (Rep. Killen).
|
|
| ||
|
|
Legislative News - Stalemate at Dysfunction Junction | |
|
May 2, 2009
Volume 4, Number
2 | ||
|
In This
Issue ·
Stalemate at
Dysfunction Junction – the Real Story ·
High Performance
School Building Legislation Becomes
Law Handy Web
Links Visit
My Home
Page
at
http://www.elliotwerk.org Visit the Legislative Web Page at
http://www.legislature. Visit the Secretary of State –
Elections Page at
http://www.idsos.state. Contact
Me mailto:elliotwerk@mindspring.com Phone:
658-0388 Legislative
Messages: 332-1000 Snail
Mail: |
Stalemate at Dysfunction Junction – the Real Story The Idaho legislative session is now in its 111th day – the 2nd longest session in history. The conservative Republican Governor is locked in a battle to raise the gas tax in the deepest recession in a generation with House Republican leadership who refuse to bring another gas tax increase to the House (the House has already voted down four gas tax increase proposals). The Governor is backed by Senate Republican leadership.
Senate Democrats have refused to support a gas tax increase on struggling Idaho families. House Democrats have very effectively and strategically leveraged votes in their caucus to reduce cuts to education budgets. Last night the House “finished their business”, adjourned Sine Die (meaning without a date), and left town saying that they will not consider another gas tax increase. Meanwhile the Senate continues in session with Senate Republican leadership looking to back the governor. According to the Idaho constitution one legislative body cannot adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other. So the House will be forced to return this coming Monday when the Senate does not accept their adjournment. What will happen when the House returns on Monday is anyone’s guess. This is what we call a stalemate – the players are locked into their positions! But the important question is why. What could be so difficult about the passage of a small gas tax increase? After all the Republican Party controls almost 80% of the seats in the legislature along with the governor’s office.
The answer isn’t in the issue; the answer is in the politics. The Republican Party in Idaho is currently experiencing a civil (or perhaps not-so-civil) war. The Republican Party is very conservative. However, there is a wing of the party that is extremely conservative and they are seeking to wrest control of the party from the current conservative leadership. This battle has been raging for years but really began to pick up steam when Bill Sali was elected to Congress in 2006. Sali won a primary packed with five far right conservatives and one “moderate” (I place this in quotes because there are really almost no true moderates in the Republican power structure). Sali’s supporters then began to try and systematically eliminate all typical conservative and “moderate” vestiges from the Republican Party leadership. At the 2008 Republican Party state convention the far right conservative’s ousted long time party head Kirk Sullivan and installed far right stalwart Norm Semanko (one of the losers in the 2006 Congressional primary). This change occurred over the objections of Governor Otter and other long-time party brass.
Then the far right conservatives at the convention voted to close the Republican primary election in the hopes of purging any remaining “moderates” by ensuring party purity during primary elections. The closed primary election would ensure that only the most conservative candidates won election. This set the stage for the current fight. So, this fight isn’t really over the gas tax, it is a fight about the future of the Republican Party in Idaho.
Will the far right conservatives fully subsume the Republican Party? Will they eventually oust Butch Otter as being too “moderate”? Will they impose some far right litmus test for belonging to the Republican Party (labeling everyone else RINO’s – Republican In Name Only)? Will they close their primary elections forcing people to register for their party to vote in their primary – all at public expense? FYI - a decision on a lawsuit - brought by the far right - to force the closing their party primary election is currently pending in front of Judge Winmill. All of these pressures are forcing Republican legislators to move inexorably further to the right. You see with the closed primary the candidate with the furthest right positions is most likely to win (since the far right party purists dominate the primary election turnout). Hence this session alone we get seven NRA-sponsored gun bills and a memorial to Congress asserting our sovereignty (just as we were accepting about $1 billion in federal stimulus money!) and seeking elimination of the Federal Reserve bank. Meanwhile the Republican Party has lost the ability to effectively govern. It is no longer about what might be best for the state of Idaho. They are so consumed with their party war that the people of the state of Idaho are being left out in the cold. As the Republicans move further to the far right, the ability to craft consensus legislation that serves the people is lost. Instead we get a litany of legislative initiatives that have unintended consequences, cater to the most conservative element of their party, are either unenforceable or represent empty messages instead of good public policy, or provide special interests with benefits at the expense of the people. And, of course, we get stalemate in the statehouse (or Dysfunction Junction as we Democrats are now calling it). At a cost of roughly $30,000/day this legislative session has already cost the people of this state $3,330,000. And with the House on a four day break until the Senate calls them back, the taxpayers are still paying for all of the per diem for the absent House members ($49/day for locals and $122/day for the out-of-towners). If all this weren’t so sad and frustrating it would actually be funny. A party civil war that threatens the authority of their own sitting Governor and seeks to move a very conservative party further to the right while wasting taxpayer funds and resulting in the second longest legislative session in history (with every possibility of making it to number one in just a week). You could write a book about this stuff. Unfortunately the people of this great state need to sit through the melodrama and wait for their fate (and the fate of their children) to be written in the backrooms. Welcome to Idaho!
High
Performance School Building Incentive Legislation Becomes
Law In exciting news, on April
14th Senate Bill 1132 was signed into law by the
governor. SB-1132 is a bipartisan bill that I authored to provide a
voluntary incentive to school districts to build high performance, more
energy efficient buildings at no added cost to the state. High performance
buildings can save as much as $7.5 million in energy costs over the
100-year life of the building! The bill is so innovative and
could result in such a large benefit to the state that the Idaho Statesman
dedicated an entire editorial to it. You can find the editorial at
http://www.idahostatesman.com/editorial/story/700549.html. The Statesman called the
bill the only good news for Idaho’s public schools this year! In addition,
the Boise Weekly has dubbed the legislation the Best of the Session! You
can find the story at http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A323300. Last year’s version of the
bill mandated high performance school buildings and was soundly
defeated in a Senate committee. This year’s innovative voluntary incentive
garnered wide support and I am gratified that two years of hard work have
paid off so handsomely. Commentary It is very difficult to get
our legislature to look favorably on any mandate for local school
districts. They want to leave the local school districts to local control.
And since the state provides very little funding support of local school
building projects (they are built with local property tax dollars passed
in a bond election) the state has very little say in the design and
construction of school buildings. Local districts are in the
business of educating children. For many districts building a new school
is a once in a generation undertaking. Consequently we tend to get some
very poorly constructed buildings (the recent examples are numerous and
disturbing). And since a shift in school funding in 2006 the state (that’s
you and I - the taxpayer) is on the hook for the utility costs for these
poorly designed and built schools. SB-1132 balanced the need to
protect taxpayers, provide funds to use the needed building processes
without adding to the state’s cost, made sure the incentive is lucrative
enough without being overly generous, and allowed for the local control
that legislators value so much in their school
districts. We struck the proper balance
and ended up with a really good piece of legislation that is now
law! I love this
job!
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
District 17 Newsletter | |||||
|
April 27, 2009
In this Issue: Creature Posturing Education
Trouble |
Legislative Update ~ FROM TEAM 17 | |||||
|
Team 17 Senator Elliot Werk Representative Bill
Killen ------------------- We
need your expertise ---------------------- To fund our
mailings and other service needs Contribute
with a click ---------------------- |
Session Extended by
Governor’s Vetoes The second longest
Legislative session in If you know someone
else in the district that should be getting this newsletter please let us
know. And feel free to share these newsletters around! From the Desk of Senator
Werk: Posturing, Positioning, Pontificating,
Plodding, and Prevaricating Here we sit on the
103rd day of this legislative session (now the 2nd
longest in history). All our business is concluded with the exception of
the Governor’s priority of raising taxes to fund road repairs. And all
parties seem to be at an impasse. Senate Republican
leadership and transportation chairman John McGee are aligned with
Governor Otter promoting a tax increase. House leadership is against a gas
tax increase and objects to the agreements made with Democrats that lessen
the damage to public schools. Last week the
Governor upped the ante and vetoed 25 budget bills. Since the legislature
is obligated to pass a budget, these vetoes represent an effort to hold
the legislature hostage. Efforts by Senate Democrats to force an override
vote of the Governor’s vetoes were rebuffed on a party-line vote by the
Republican supermajority. After his vetoes the
Governor stated that he would not allow the legislature to leave town
without his tax increase for roads. These games have led to a three week
long stalemate between the Governor and Senate Republicans on one side,
and House Republican leadership on the other. So far this stalemate has
cost taxpayers $630,000. Commentary The most recent
House Republican leadership proposal to end the stalemate is the worst
yet. It seeks (for the first time in state history) to take money from the
state general fund, provide that money for roads, and make road funding
the priority over all other budgets. So how will it all
end? I really have no idea. The Governor still wants his gas tax increase.
Senate Republican leadership and John McGee also want the increase. House
Republican leadership has rejected further efforts at raising the gas tax
and they put together a plan for added fees (and their terrible general
fund proposal). Senate Democrat’s have refused to support a tax increase
on struggling Will all the players
come together and get something done in the next week or two? Stay tuned
for our next exciting newsletter – a newsletter that we hope will be an
end of session review! View the full story
here. From the Desk of Representative
Killen: The Creature
from the Black Lagoon In an effort to
craft a going home bill that would satisfy the Governor’s demand for
increased transportation funding, the House majority leadership has put
forth a four part proposal that is projected to raise about $80 million
annually. The first three parts are reasonable ideas put forth
earlier in the session and now resurfacing. The fourth is reminiscent
of some horror movie protagonist, arising from the swamp of bad ideas,
covered with unknown policy permutations, and dripping with unforeseen
consequences to be visited on unsuspecting future taxpayers and
legislators. The trio of
non-threatening ideas includes removing the ethanol/biodiesel tax
exemption which produces about $18 million additional fuel tax revenues;
the next consists of nominal increases to a smorgasbord of routine
automotive related fees administered by DMV – this produces about $12
million. The third regroups the car and light truck registration fees
to a broader number of vehicles, producing about $3 million in additional
revenues without actually changing the fees themselves – essentially it
moves the higher registration numbers onto older vehicles increasing the
overall take. The fourth part
is only roughly defined and, as of late Thursday afternoon, was still
lurking in the swamp. In general outline it would siphon some 2% of
general fund revenues, i.e., income and sales tax, to be used for
transportation funding. This would be a major change in policy since
historically transportation funding has come exclusively from related
activities such as fuel, registration, DMV fees and the like. Without
an increase in the income tax, the sales tax, or both, this would
inevitably produce a further shortfall in revenues for schools,
corrections, public employees and any and all governmental functions
dependent on general fund revenues. At present revenue levels this
amounts to about $50 million annually, and would grow when and if revenues
grow. As envisioned it would be triggered by an upturn in the economy
and would be funded by getting in line with similarly funded
programs. This would be one more bite out of the general fund
revenues triggered by economic growth. In effect we would be creating
a body of “entitlements” that would continually reduce the discretionary
funding available for our “meat and potato” programs. This
approach creates a real risk down the road of deficit spending in
these areas, guaranteeing future tax increases in to meet our balanced
budget mandate. I can’t see the creature clearly yet, but I can hear
it gurgling and sloshing as it wades ever closer. Head for high ground and
hang on to your wallets. From the Desk of Representative
Chew: Governor’s Vetoes Mean Trouble for School
Districts In Commentary This year, the
education budget is being cut for the first time ever in Despite chronic
neglect by the legislature, school districts do what they can to deliver
the vital learning that children need. We know that many school districts
will have to declare a state of financial emergency. Yet while out most
important public function is being undermined, the Governor begins a
veto-a-thon in hopes of forcing the legislature to raise new taxes for
roads! It is always about priorities. I only wish the Governor would shift
his priority to helping our public schools, and For more details see the full story. Weekly Office
Hours Office
hours are finished for this session. We would like to thank everyone who
stopped by and made them so interesting this
year. Our
web sites are constantly getting updated with the latest info, so visit
them often.
We want to stress
what an honor it is to represent you in the Please feel free to
contact any one of us at any time at team17@cableone.net, or by phone at 658-0388 (Sen. Werk) or
344-0098 (Rep. Chew) or 345-2956 (Rep. Killen).
|
|
|
District 17 Newsletter | |||||||||||
|
April 6, 2009
In this Issue: Education
Vendetta Whack-a-mole Safe Day
Care |
Legislative Update ~ FROM TEAM 17 | |||||||||||
|
Team 17 Senator Elliot
Werk Representative Bill
Killen ------------------- Office
Hours Every
Tuesday 7:00
- 8:30 PM ------------------- 2009 Public
Forums
April
14th 7:00p.m. to
9:00p.m. at the Library
We
need your expertise ---------------------- To fund our
mailings and other service needs Contribute
with a click ---------------------- |
Schools or Transportation –
which shall it be ? As we approach the
end of this year’s legislative session, transportation bills with tax
increases are being hotly debated. The appropriations bills are also
hitting the docket. While the Governor is looking for more money for
Transportation, Education funding is being cut, in spite of the presence
of a solid rainy day fund. Read on to see what our District 17
representatives think about these issues and more. Come and discuss the
issues with us at our public forum this Tuesday, April 14th at 7:00 PM in the
We also invite you
to come to our weekly office hours every Tuesday from 7:00 – 8:30 PM at the If you know someone
else in the district that should be getting this newsletter please let us
know. And feel free to share these newsletters around! From the Desk of Senator Werk: H-256 – Fear and Loathing in the Legislation
introduced in the House to decrease the reimbursement for public school
transportation funding has reached the Senate after a valiant fight by
House Democrats to defeat or amend the bill. H-256
is co-sponsored by Republican Sen. John Goedde –
a former trustee of the Coeur-d’Alene school district and chairman of the
Senate Education committee and Rep. Bob Nonini
chairman of the House Education committee. The bill purports to cut public
education busing reimbursement by $4.2 million in fiscal year
2010. The bill cuts the
public education budget by eliminating funding for field trips, decreasing
the reimbursement for school busing from the current 85% to 50% of
allowable costs, instituting a very complicated formula for providing
additional grants for transportation, and finally eliminating the
flexibility of school districts to calculate their reimbursable costs
using either a per student or per mile basis. This last provision in the
bill was specifically targeted at the Commentary I firmly believe
that my job as a legislator is to support the best possible public policy
regardless of the players involved. Personal animosity, anger, envy, and
grudges have no place in the public policy arena. Unfortunately the
portion of H 256 that targets the During House debate
on H 256 one Republican lawmaker even stood up and stated that the
The provision in H
256 that eliminates field trips is also startlingly short-sighted. It
belies an attitude toward public education that any enrichment is a
luxury. As we all know, field trips are an integral part of the learning
process. It is a sad
testament to our legislature that a bill like H 256 would ever see the
light of day, not to mention the certainty of passage (although hopefully
amended). Our children’s education deserves more than actions based on
grudges, misinformation, and a lack of appreciation for a well-rounded
education for our children. View the full story
here. From the Desk of Representative
Killen: Whack-a-mole in the
House On Tuesday this week
the House took up the sole remaining transportation funding bill on its
amending order. The process is somewhat arcane with the body dissolving
and reconstituting as a committee of the whole; though it sounds ominous,
nobody is transformed, no puddles are scattered about the chamber, but
magically, we no longer have a Speaker, but rather a chairman of the
committee of the whole. Once
constituted the various bills are ripe for change; in this case H 135 from
the Transportation chair, JoAn Wood, was offered
up with eight possible amendments – an unusually high number. The list
included Local Option Authority, various fuel tax increases, and changes
to the State vs Local revenue split percentage.
Like the arcade moles, they popped up throughout the morning debate with
all but one roundly dispatched by the mallet wielding members of the
body. Commentary The bill itself, as
amended, will be coming back for an up or down vote on Tuesday the7th;
based on what happened this week I expect it will get whacked soundly and
expire on the floor of the House.
With the economic downturn still at full throttle, legislators are
extremely reluctant to raise taxes or fees of any kind, particularly with
about $400 million still untouched in our rainy day funds. A cynic might suspect that the
reluctance to commit to using those funds now is somehow tied to the fact
that next year is an election year and if we run short then, after having
committed those funds now, might force sitting legislators to consider a
tax increase in an election year – oh the horror of
it. View the full story
here. From the Desk of Representative
Chew: Will Our Kids be Safer This
Year? Commentary Team 17 hopes that
Senate Bill 1112a will be able to survive the House amendment process,
pass the House, and return back to the Senate for their review and
consideration before the Legislature closes this year. If there needs be,
a special process may have to be invoked in which a special committee
comprised of chosen Senators and Representatives must convene to decide if
the bill can be made acceptable to both houses for passage this
year. For more details see
the
full story. Contacting Team
17
Public
Forums to Discuss Legislative Issues
The legislative forums
that we have held in past years have proven to be a great way to keep in
close contact with our constituents. Of course we want to keep these lines
of communication open so we have held three well attended forums this
year. The final one is coming up.
Weekly Office
Hours Once
again Team 17 will offer the people that we serve the opportunity to meet
individually with the Team on a first come - first served basis. Office
hours are held
every Tuesday,
beginning on January 27th, 7:00 - 8:30 PM in the Our
web sites are constantly getting updated with the latest info, so visit
them often.
We want to stress
what an honor it is to represent you in the Please feel free to
contact any one of us at any time at team17@cableone.net, or by phone at 658-0388 (Sen. Werk) or
344-0098 (Rep. Chew) or 345-2956 (Rep. Killen).
|
|
|
District 17 Newsletter | |||||||||||
|
March 23, 2009
In this Issue: High Performance
Schools Transportation
plans State
Affairs |
Legislative Update ~ FROM TEAM 17 | |||||||||||
|
Team 17 Senator Elliot Werk Representative Bill
Killen ------------------- Office
Hours THIS
WEEK: Tuesday
3/24 7:00
– 8:30 PM Meet
us at the Coffee Shop at the Fred
Meyers on the corner of
Usual
Location: Every
Tuesday 7:00
- 8:30 PM ------------------- 2009 Public
Forums
April
14th 7:00p.m. to
9:00p.m. at the Library
We
need your expertise ---------------------- To fund our
mailings and other service needs Contribute
with a click ---------------------- |
Legislature moves into it’s
final furious weeks We invite you to
come to our weekly office hours every Tuesday from 7:00 – 8:30 PM. This
week we will meet at the coffee shop at Fred Meyers located on corner of
If you know someone
else in the district that should be getting this newsletter please let us
know. And feel free to share these newsletters around! From the Desk of Senator
Werk: Rep. Chew and I are celebrating (but only
mildly) the rewards of two years of very hard work. In exciting news, last
week Senate Bill 1132
cleared the Senate State Affairs committee (unanimously) and the State
Senate (34-1). SB-1132 is a bipartisan bill that provides a voluntary
incentive to school districts to build high performance, more energy
efficient buildings at no added cost to the state
taxpayer. The bill is so innovative and could result in
such a large benefit to the state that the Idaho Statesman dedicated an
entire editorial to it the other day. View the editorial
here. The Statesman called the bill the only good news for Commentary It is very difficult to get our legislature
to look favorably on any mandate for local school districts. They want to
leave the local school districts to local control. Local school building
projects are built with local property tax dollars, so the state has very
little say in the design and construction of school
buildings. On the other hand, local districts are in the
business of educating children. For many districts building a new school
is a once in a generation undertaking. Consequently we tend to get some
very poorly constructed buildings (the recent examples are numerous and
disturbing). Since the 2006 property tax shift, taxpayers (that’s us!) are
on the hook for the utility costs for these poorly designed and built
schools. These costs, over the lifetime of a building, can be
huge. We believe that our bill solves these
problems in a balanced way, and look forward to the coming House committee
sessions that will decide the bill’s fate. View the full story
here. From the Desk of Representative
Killen: When
Worlds Collide All
you Sci-Fi B-movie fans out there may remember the one where the Earth,
Moon, and some other planet were all on a collision course with the whole
of mankind at risk of annihilation. A somewhat scaled down version of
that classic is playing out in the House this week with the upcoming votes
on the Governor’s scaled back Transportation initiative. Our chief
executive has made this the centerpiece of his legislative agenda this
session, and the House majority leadership has agreed to ensure it gets a
hearing. One
of the worlds collided with the House on Thursday the
19th; H246 – the revised fuel tax bill with a 7 cent, 3
year phase in, went down to defeat 43 to 27 after vigorous
debate. H247
– the bill substantially increasing registration fees was pulled. It will
be revised and scheduled for hearing in the House Transportation
committee. The
GARVEE Bonding appropriation bill will coming from JFAC somewhat later in
the session. Commentary I agree that the
Governor has a great plan - however, I also believe his timing is off by a
year or two. I am hearing from many constituents on transportation
generally and the majority are frustrated that there is absolutely no
movement on public transit. If the governor would help move that
forward, making it part of the mix, he would have a whole lot of votes
from our caucus for his other proposals. I believe the
GARVEE Bonding will get solid support from our caucus - some reluctantly,
but all realizing that we need to see the program through - a midcourse
hiccup would not be in anyone's interest. View the full story
here. From the Desk of Representative
Chew: The State Affairs SOCIAL
Committee The State Affairs
Committee usually listens to issues that have statewide implications. This
week, however, the committee spent a majority of their time considering
social changes. One such bill, HB216,
would provide freedom of conscience for pharmacists, pharmacies, and
institutions to provide immunity from liability when they refuse a
prescription for religious reasons. Commentary Two of the problems
I see with this bill are: 1) Pharmacists already can refuse to fill
prescriptions in Instead of social
issues, the State Affairs Committee should be considering solutions to
help all of us in this economic downtown. Some suggestions might be: 1)
Freeing up more money from the lottery to help restore cuts in the
classroom that would affect our kids, 2) Helping with efficiencies in
For more details see
the
full story. Contacting Team
17
Public
Forums to Discuss Legislative Issues
The legislative forums
that we have held in past years have proven to be a great way to keep in
close contact with our constituents. Of course we want to keep these lines
of communication open so we have held three well attended forums this
year. The final one is coming up.
Weekly Office
Hours Once
again Team 17 will offer the people that we serve the opportunity to meet
individually with the Team on a first come - first served basis. Office
hours are held
every Tuesday,
beginning on January 27th, 7:00 - 8:30 PM in the THIS
WEEK: Tuesday 3/24 7:00 –
8:30 PM Borah
is Closed for spring Break, Meet
us at the Coffee Shop at the Fred Meyers Our
web sites are constantly getting updated with the latest info, so visit
them often.
We want to stress
what an honor it is to represent you in the Please feel free to
contact any one of us at any time at team17@cableone.net, or by phone at 658-0388 (Sen. Werk) or
344-0098 (Rep. Chew) or 345-2956 (Rep. Killen).
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |