Rep Wendy Jaquet's weekly legislative column

We will be on the House Floor on Friday or Monday, hoping for a positive vote on a tax credit for donors to the Pesky Learning Center.  Looks like it could be a tough sell to the Senate who wants to stop all credits and sales tax exemptions.  Today I found out that 38% of our young people who are in detention have a learning disability.  This costs us $174 per day per youth.  The Pesky Center does a great job in helping bridge the gap in the diagnosis of these disabilities and are saving the state funding.  Incentivizing their contributors with a tax credit is a good thing to do.

 

We voted on House Bill 180 in the Revenue and Taxation Committee today that changes the distribution formula for liquor funds and increases the substance abuse treatment fund by $2 million dollars which will add 275 more people to the drug court/ treatment path instead of going to prison.  Taking effect in 2008, the increase is based on significant increases in liquor sales revenues.

 

House Concurrent Resolution 14 which acknowledged the presence of climate change and asked the state to lead in conservation and renewables and support communities in their efforts to conserve energy was held in committee pending the outcome of the Energy Plan which will have a hearing on Tuesday, February 20 at 1:30.  I thought that the discussion of the existence of climate change would move to what can we do about it? in the committee hearing, but committee members are still disputing the scientific findings, most recently those found in the Summary for Policy Makers First Phase Report issued on Friday, February 2 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The report was reviewed by 600 scientists and then peer reviewed by 600 other scientists and approved by 113 countries including the United States after being reviewed by 154 “bureaucrats” of 154 countries.  Even our President addressed the issue of climate change in his State of the Union speech.  I suspect that the bill is dead.

 

The vote on the streamlined sales tax agreement comes up on Monday.  The bill was amended to make sure that legislators are representing the state of Idaho.  There is a fear that we will lose our sovereignty as a state.  I’m supporting the bill because I think it can make remote vendors (internet sales) on the same playing field as main street businesses and therefore more fair.

 

Senate bill 1067 which creates voluntary incentives for school consolidation is up on the Senate floor this week.  I am co sponsoring the bill with President Pro Tem Geddes in the Senate.  He has two districts interested in consolidating who have indicated to him that the incentives are not worth the pain.  We’ll see if this bill makes it more attractive.  The incentives provide more planning money, severance pay for all employees on a voluntary basis, a better formula for state assistance on bonding for a new building and a better phase out of multiple school funding - the district keeps 50% of the combined funding after seven years (100% the first seven years).

 

Kudos to Senator Clint Stennett who was able to get a unanimous committee vote on abolishing the one mile rule for testifies on confined animal feeding operations (dairies, feedlots).  This vote has been years in the making and boils down to what is democracy?  Why shouldn’t people who see themselves as “affected persons” be able to come forth and state their views to their elected county commissioners? 

 

Sales price disclosure: We met with the Realtors, the contractors, the title companies, the counties, the State Tax Commission, the bankers and assessors in an effort to find out where we might go to get a consensus bill passed this session.  We have some re drafting to do, but may have found a path by focusing on improved residential property only.  We’ll see if we have a bill at our next meeting which is Wednesday.

 

I am so proud to be representing you in the legislature.  Thank you for this opportunity.  Looks like we’ll be going home March 16.  Be sure to get your comments to me by phone, 800/626-0471 or e mail wjaquet@house.idaho.gov   Have a great week.

 

Rep. Wendy Jaquet
House of Representatives
House Democratic Leader
Work: (208) 332-1133
Home: (208) 726-3100
Work Fax: (208) 334-5397
Home Fax: (208) 726-0674