Saturday, April 5, 2008; Page A02 Quick: Name the Western U.S. city most vulnerable to a terrorist attack. Is it Los Angeles, with its crowded roads that make quick escape impossible? San Francisco and its iconic bridge? Or Seattle with its Space Needle and busy port? Democrats select Jim Hansen BOISE, Idaho – Idaho State Democratic Party Chairman Keith Roark is delighted to announce the appointment of one of Idaho’s best known and most experienced community leaders to serve as the state party’s new Executive Director. Jim Hansen will lead an energetic staff not only into the critical 2008 campaign season, but beyond this year and into an unprecedented period of party rebuilding and unity. : : MORE 2008 Idaho Democratic Legislative Caucus: Minority Report When The Idaho Legislature started its session last January, we asked our Republican colleagues to help us make progress on the issues of importance to Idaho citizens. Democrats came to the Idaho Statehouse ready to: • Protect our unique quality of life and public lands while we face a period of rapid and unmanaged growth. • Strengthen our schools so Idahoans can create prosperous small businesses with employees who can compete globally for the good-paying jobs. • Strengthen the middle class through sound tax policy rather than giving yet another tax break to big corporations. • Protect our young children by enacting minimal safety standards and requiring background checks in the child day care centers that are currently unregulated. • Make our government more transparent through more stringent ethical reporting requirements aimed at legislators, lobbyists and high government officials. Yet now, after 87 days in session at a cost of nearly $30,000 per day, it is clear that the Republican leaders have failed to make progress on the vast majority of issues ordinary Idahoans care most about. As this session started, we learned that the economy was cooling and that revenue – the money we collect from taxes – was likely to be less than we had originally expected. People are buying and spending less because people are hurting financially. Just this week, we learned that more than 10,170 Idaho families were delinquent on their mortgages at the end of last year; while 2,705 homes were in actual foreclosure across the state. This downturn in the economy has truly colored this session. But certain outdated ideas and traditions also colored the way this Legislature has reacted to the economic downturn. As a result, one of the greatest failures was to recognize the needs of Idaho’s families – and the fact that it was our job as lawmakers to make progress on their issues: child safety, transportation, and health care. We wasted more time this session debating licensing regulations for naturopaths and midwives than we did talking about the true cost of health insurance and the availability of doctors in our communities. We can no longer ignore the rising cost of healthcare. Here’s how far behind we are on the issue of child safety: Idaho law currently requires background checks on construction or other mechanical workers who enter public schools. Yet, the Republican leadership refused to even consider health and safety standards for the most vulnerable Idahoans – the little children who go to child daycare. You can still be an employee or even operate some types of child daycare facilities and not even have to pass a criminal background check. Working parents need some assurance that their children will be safe -- but the obstructionist Republican leadership turned them away. On the issue of transportation, we recognized that there were hundreds of millions of dollars worth of unmet maintenance needs for our crumbling roads and aging bridges. Even Gov. Butch Otter said the Republican leadership lacked the vision and the political will to raise the revenue needed to address these issues – at least, not in an election year. Yet the backlog of wheel warping, suspension snapping problems will continue to exist next year – only next year, the potholes will be even bigger. Very little was done this year to address the rapid growth that is choking many of Idaho’s communities. These cities and towns need to be treasured and preserved to protect Idaho’s way of life. Instead, a carefully crafted compromise on voluntary farm, ranch and timber preservation was shot down; a bill that would have allowed communities to protect property taxpayers through local option taxes failed; and an effort that would have let county governments identify the decreasing market values of residential properties for property tax purposes was defeated – all at the hands of GOP leadership. The real estate developers won again. We cannot forget also that Republicans blocked a Democratic attempt to make government more open and responsible. While Republicans can fly on private jets across the state and back, one bill that would have made them more responsible lawmakers never got off the ground. However, they did manage to close government further by limiting primary elections to party members only. Meanwhile, the special interests will continue to be able to buy access to their legislators – even if it means cornering them on a private jet to get their attention. Fortunately, all was not lost this session. Thanks to our work in the budget committee, proposed cuts in Headstart programs were avoided and it will be funded at the same level as last year; and there was another installment made on college scholarships. We also continued to make headway on our effort to eliminate the tax on food at the cash register. This year, we achieved a food tax credit. Next year, it will be at the check-out counter. Additionally, Democrats were able to secure $1 million in funding for the Community Health Center Grant Fund. Finally, we were able to reduce taxes and eliminate the personal property taxes on small business. In summary, this year’s outcome is just like last year’s: a “do-nothing” legislative session marked by Republican leadership that even Republican Gov. Butch Otter has publicly criticized. We had hoped to avoid this kind of gridlock, but with the same Republican leaders, it was really nevitable. Idaho – YOU -- deserve better government. The Idaho Democratic Caucus Leadership Rep. Wendy Jaquet, Ketchum, House Democratic Leader
To change the outcomes of legislative sessions like this, we simply must change the party-line balance. Until Democrats can constitute a viable block large enough to block a veto over-ride, Republicans will continue to rule instead of govern or lead. Its time we realized the grand OLD party is out of step with today's needs. Look around, what have they managed to accomplish -- other than to shift more of the burden of paying for our state services from the backs of business to us, the individual home owners?
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Thanks to all who came. Your participation is how we safeguard our political system, and affect changes. And you know changes are long over-due. Every level of government in our state is functioning on the Good-'Ol-Boy mode of operation, and that always leads to excesses and egregious mistakes. Its time we get involved in the other races besides President. Contact your county Chair to find out how you could aid a candidate, or how to become a candidate for County, State Legislature, or other elective positions. Over the past 10 days or so we have received numerous questions regarding the ways Idaho apportions its delegates to the presidential candidates. There are some important differences between how we do things, and how Iowa and Nevada have done it. Here are a few things to remember: - Idaho has 23 delegates. The preferences for 18 of those delegates will be determined on February 5. Presidential candidates win those Idaho delegates based on the percentage of pledges they receive on February 5. In other states, the national delegates are awarded based on the number of STATE delegates won on caucus night. Not so in Idaho. Here is the language from the 2008 Idaho Delegate Selection Plan (page3):
- So what if Candidate C does not receive 15 percent in a congressional district, but does receive 15 percent in a county? Things get a bit more complicated in that scenario, but it is addressed in our plan. In that scenario, supporters in that county for Candidate C would get to send delegates to the state convention. However, since that candidate did not receive 15% statewide, those delegates might not get to vote to select the delegates to the national convention. Why? Because there is NO RECAUCUSING AT THE STATE CONVENTION. If your candidate does not earn national delegates in Idaho, the only way you can participate in the national delegate process is if your candidate releases you to do so. Again, here is language from the plan:
- The other five delegates whose preference will not be determined via the February 5 caucus are called “superdelegates.” They are free to choose whichever candidate they please, at any time they please. In Idaho, our superdelegates are IDP Chair Keith Roark, IDP Vice-Chair Jeanne Buell, National Committeeman Grant Burgoyne and National Committeewoman Gail Bray. The fifth superdelegate is selected in June at the state convention, and is selected by all the state delegates to that convention. - Finally, please, please, please, PLEASE do whatever you can in the coming weeks to put the word out to your local Democrats that February 5 is THE DAY here in Idaho. There will be presidential candidates on the ballot in the May primary, but the vote on those candidates is binding only for the Republican Party. We DO NOT USE the May primary for our delegate selection process, and the May presidential primary HAS ZERO IMPACT ON IDAHO DEMOCRATS. (Of course, other items on that ballot will go on as normal, including the CD1 primary.)
Best regards – John Foster
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Since our elected Republican leadership has chosen to leave those with no Health Insurance out in the cold, many people are having serious budget problems handling their prescription expenses. We suggest they investigate this
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ell on Boise
