Do you want a safe, healthy, and prosperous future for Idaho?

February 5, 2022 

"You are where you are today because you stood on somebody's shoulders. And wherever you are heading, you cannot get there by yourself. If you stand on the shoulders of others, you have a reciprocal responsibility to live your life so that others may stand on your shoulders. It's the quid pro quo of life. We exist temporarily through what we take, but we live forever through what we give." --Vernon Jordan

PRIORITIES

This week the Senate passed and the Governor signed a record income tax cut and rebate without addressing working families' needs. Idaho was already a low tax state, in 36th place for tax burden in the United States. The bill had already passed the House, so it has now gone to the Governor for his signature.

These are high priorities that the legislature should address before the session ends:

·    Property tax relief--increasing the homeowner's exemption and pegging it to housing costs; more than doubling the property tax assistance program; the Senate passed an increase on the circuit breaker cap to allow more people to utilize it, the bill now goes to the House

·    Grocery tax relief

·    Workforce housing--the cost of housing has far outstripped wages in Idaho

·    Child care--child care is necessary for people to get back to work; Idaho is one of just four states that does not fund pre-k; the existing State child tax credit should be refundable

·    Full-day kindergarten--optional full-day kindergarten is supported by a strong majority of Idahoans

·    School facilities--49th in k-12 facilities maintenance (see below for more information); funds for paying down outstanding school bonds and levies and to pay for facility needs

·    Roads and bridges--our district has the worst bridges in the State

·    Emergency services--the current situation is unstainable, see below for more information

·    Mental health care--the Idaho Behavioral Health Council has made specific recommendations, including several focused on unmet needs for children

·    Broadband

·    Internet sales tax distributed to local governments--rather than stored in a slush fund for income tax cuts and rebates

·    Increasing wages for State employees--the increase needs to be greater than 5% just to keep up with inflation

·    Water Management

The lowest income earners will end up getting just $75 in a tax rebate from this bill. What do you want, $75 or investment in a safe, healthy, and prosperous future for you and your children?

OFFICE OF PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

The Idaho State Legislature's Office of Performance Evaluation is a nonpartisan, independent office of the Legislature. They evaluate whether state government programs and agencies are operating efficiently and cost-effectively and are achieving intended results. 

The subjects of OPE's evaluations are proposed by Members of the Legislature and chosen by the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee--I am a member of this committee. Two recent evaluations covered emergency medical services and school facilities.

Emergency Medical Services: Idaho Code does not designate EMS as an essential government service, and therefore does not guarantee access for all Idahoans. The majority of providers in rural Idaho are volunteers and just 18% of EMS directors report that their agency is able to maintain sufficient staff. Staffing issues have frequently delayed responses and patients in some areas have received a lower quality of care.

School Facilities: Idaho spends less on school buildings annually than any of our neighboring states. A statewide facility condition assessment of K-12 public school buildings is needed. The last assessment was done in 1993, and Idaho's Districts do not reliably submit maintenance plans, so information on the condition of school facilities statewide is limited.

Of the 77 school district administrators that responded to OPE's survey, nearly 60% rated their school buildings in fair or poor condition across all school types. Schools rated fair or poor have deferred maintenance needs that must be addressed and buildings that may need to be replaced entirely. A low estimate of the funds needed to get all schools in Idaho to at least good condition is over $800 million.

BROADBAND

The Federal Communications Commission has issued new guidance for the affordable connectivity program. This program provides eligible households with discounts of up to $30 a month for broadband services (up to $75 a month if the household is on tribal lands) and a one-time discount of up to $100 on a computer or tablet. The FCC's recent decision incorporated many requests from local governments and included a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) on how local governments and community partners can partner with the FCC on program outreach.

Respectfully,

Michelle