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Legisaltive Progress: 20 Bills NOT Passed
The 2008 session or the Idaho legislature has come to a close. 105 legislators from around Idaho have packed up cardboard boxes of papers and gone home to jobs, families and constituents from Sandpoint to Soda Springs. BELOW I have included a wrap up of 20 important bills never passed or else denied hearings this year.
Of greatest concern to me on the list were key issues like healthcare and prison sentencing reform, funding public transportation, improving human rights and lowering property taxes by making growth pay for itself.
But I am pleased that we did lead strong bi-partisan efforts to kill many of the very harmful proposals we saw this year, from Tom Luna's disastrous ISTARs teacher contract and pay proposal to Governor Otter's absurd $150 car registration fee and his plan to leave State Employee Retiree's health insurance benefits in the hands of private insurers.
I'm also proud that the business personal property tax proposal that passed the Legislature this year was a compromise proposal drafted by Democrats and submitted for the past two years by Representative Bill Killen. Rep.Killen submitted the legislation to committee early in the session but was never given a hearing. Democrats even attempted to amend H599 on the floor of the house to create a $50,000 exemption, rather than eliminating and completely shifting this tax onto families and small business, but the motion failed largely on a party line vote. Sadly, House Republican leaders Mike Moyle, Scott Bedke, Ken Roberts and Lawrence Denny, who voted against this legislation from the beginning, have been editorializing around the state to say that the compromise was their work. I'm hoping they stand corrected.
I want to thank you and every one of the hundreds of Idahoans who wrote to legislators this year because none of these bits of progress would have been possible without your letters.
...nicole
Democratic Conclusions
The following is a piece started by House Democratic Assistant Minority Leader, George Sayler, and added to by many of the 19 members of the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives.
Democrats came to the Capitol ready to make progress on issues of importance to the people of Idaho. We listened to the Governor's state of the state speech, set our own budget priorities and gave our own response in which we said we agreed with many of the goals set by the Governor, not necessarily the means toward them.
Sadly this session shows that Republican legislative leaders are out of touch on issues of importance to Idahoans.
They ignored the advice of several statewide coalitions and working groups. They ignored "Moving Idaho Forward" which came offering public transit solutions. They stood in the way of the Farm, Ranch, and Forest Preservation working group which came ready to save Idaho lands from development. They set aside the principles developed by the legislative interim committee on tax exemptions.
They chose this year to fly on a private airplane to a fund raising dinner, fly back to Boise, and the next day vote to pass a bill that is bad for working people but favorable to the owner of the airplane.
This year again they catered to special interests at the expense of ordinary Idahoans, nearly shifting over $100 million dollars in big industry taxes onto the sales tax which families pay.
They have opposed reforms that would clean up politics at the state level including ethics legislation that would end lobbyists' revolving door to politics.
As the majority party since 1990, Republicans chair every legislative committee in both houses. This year when we challenged Republican leadership to hold hearings and discuss issues; when we called for real cooperation and consideration of sound solutions, they refused.
We worked to start removal of the sales tax on food at the register; Republican leaders opposed it.
We crafted legislation to limit how much health insurance companies could raise premiums on Idaho families and small businesses; Republicans refused to hear the bill.
We supported conservation easements to protect Idaho's vanishing working farms and forests; Republicans killed that bill too.
We supported systematically reviewing tax exemptions; Republicans would not consider it.
We supported affordable workforce housing; Republicans would not consider it.
We proposed residential sales price disclosure; House Republicans would not hold a hearing.
We wanted to provide Idaho's teachers with the needed level of pay increases; The Governor's plan for education penalized Idaho's teachers and included disastrous proposals like Tom Luna's iSTARS.
We supported creating treatment focused alternatives to mandatory minimum sentences to make communities safer and prisons less costly and crowded; Republican committee chairs would not give this bill a hearing.
We supported adequate and reasonable state employee pay increases; Republicans ignored the needs of state employees and their families and took a hatchet to retirement benefits.
We supported protecting children in child care by requiring criminal background checks on child care providers; Republicans refused to hold a hearing on this bill.
We supported early education programs to improve quality of life and success for Idaho's kids; Republicans opposed this effort to strengthen families and improve education.
We supported measures to expand children's health insurance; Republicans opposed providing 6000 children in need with essential medical care.
We led bipartisan efforts for human rights, successfully introducing fair employment policies for gays and lesbians and strategies for divesting state funds from companies supporting genocide in Darfur; Key Republican leaders refused to support consideration of these measures in Senate.
We supported building energy efficient schools and public buildings to save money, energy and prevent climate change. We encouraged the use of global climate change studies to protect Idahoans health and our precious resources. Senate Republican Leadership killed or watered down these measures one after another.
We supported open, deliberative and inclusive politics and decision making; Republicans at the end of the session proposed a 93 page bill on election consolidation and another on closing Idaho primaries without including input from voters or dialog with the county clerks.
We supported local option sales taxes to allow local people to vote to fund urgent local needs including public transit and roads; Republicans derailed the process and stood in the way with a restrictive and unnecessary constitutional amendment.
We proposed providing a $50,000 exemption to the personal property tax to help small business; until their special interest version of the bill nearly died, House Republican Leaders would not consider our proposal.
We supported lowering property taxes by making growth pay for itself and by allowing local governments to more easily charge impact fees on new development; Republicans would not even consider the bill.
The bottom line is, Democrats worked hard this session to provide solutions and make progress on issues of importance to ordinary Idahoans. We continually seek to protect the interests of our citizens, and have stood up to the special interests who seek to warp the state's democratic processes. We are committed to standing up for Idaho's middle class and small businesses, preserving Idahos quality of life and access to public lands. We support transparency and ethics in government.
The Republican Majority has been an obstacle to progress on those same issues. They have pursued their own ideological goals and partnered with special interests to rob Idahoans of the kind of representation they deserve. Under current Republican leadership and with government so very unbalanced, the changes that Idahoans care about will never be accomplished.
However, we will not give up. We will not stop laboring to make sure your voice is heard.
With your help, we will continue to make progress issue by issue. And, with your help, we will make progress this year by electing more Democrats to the legislature. Our goal in 2008 is to bring democracy, balance and better policy to the Idaho Legislature by winning more seats in both the House and the Senate. No matter where in Idaho you live, you can help us. http://www.idaho-democrats.org/
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I adapted this from a piece that was begun by House Assistant Minority Leader, George Sayler. It was added to by many of the 19 members of our Democratic caucus of the Idaho Legislature. You will find many versions of this wrap up of the 2008 legislative session in communities all over the state.
You can make a difference this year. Get involved. For a full list of candidates in all parties: http://www.idsos.state.id.us/ELECT/candidat/08candpri.pdf
Check out TOPIC ARCHIVES of Nicole's: "Notes from the Floor: observations from inside the Idaho Legislature."
Politics: Elections
Politics: Human Rights
Politics: In the Minority
Politics: Issues
Politics: Lives of Legislators
Politics: Taxes
Politics: The Process
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