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“Sometimes we are blessed with being able to choose the time, and the arena, and the manner of our revolution, but more usually we must do battle where we are standing.”
Audre Lorde
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A Little Good News in a Strained Health Care System
S1270: Down Syndrome Diagnosis Information Act 
The ultimate goal of Bill 1270 is to ensure that parents receiving a Down syndrome diagnosis for their baby are provided timely, accurate, and complete information about Down syndrome. Too many Idahoans have gone through traumatic diagnosis experiences where incorrect information was shared.
Research shows that a parent’s experience of receiving a diagnosis of Down syndrome is very impactful and the memory of fear OR hope stays with the parent for a lifetime.
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Bill 1270 is legislation requiring that health care practitioners provide written information about Down syndrome, resources, and support groups to parents receiving a prenatal or postnatal diagnosis of Down syndrome for their baby. Bill 1270 is one way to share information with parents and health care professionals so babies with Down syndrome are not feared or disregarded but instead seen as valuable contributing citizens of Idaho.
This bill has full support from the Council on Developmental Disabilities: "nothing about us without us."
- Passed out of Senate Health and Welfare and on the Senate third reading calendar.
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HCR029: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE's) Resolution
This resolution encourages state officers, agencies, and employees to promote interventions and practices to identify and treat children and adult survivors of severe emotional trauma and other adverse childhood experiences using interventions proven to help and develop resiliency in these survivors.
- Passed the House and Senate; now on to the Governor.
S1287: Rural Nursing Loan Repayment Program
Senate Bill 1247 would create the “Rural Nursing Loan Repayment Fund.” Money allocated to the fund would pay educational debts for nurses committing to practice in designated rural health shortage areas and critical access hospitals in Idaho.
I believe a program such as this is extremely important, especially in the current healthcare worker shortage we are experiencing. It is important to provide our communities with the tools they need to succeed.
- Passed out of Senate Health and Welfare and on the Senate third reading calendar.
S1283: Emergency Medical Services
We heard S1283 in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. This bill will allow for a higher rate of payment for ground emergency transportation--i.e., ambulances. The supplemental reimbursement would come from federal tax dollars and would help cover the true cost of EMS and particularly benefit rural areas with less access to emergency medical care. There would be no cost to local governments.
- Passed out of Senate Health and Welfare and on the Senate third reading calendar.
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Above: Kristen, a local nursing student, came by to speak to me about the program!
Below: Health Care Workers I met with who are sharing the crisis we are experiencing.
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The Bad News about the Health Care Workforce Shortage
Personal Care Worker (PCS) Shortage
Personal Care Services (PCS) Agencies provide care and support to the aged and disabled population in their own home. These individuals may need help with assistance with activities of daily living such as: bathing, dressing, assistance with toileting, eating meals, transferring in and out of bed, mobility, hygiene, G-tube feedings, and much more. PCS agencies perform a valuable services and help prevent the need for more costly care. The pandemic and the associated labor shortage has caused even fewer agencies to accept new clients on Medicaid.
The PCS program has been historically underfunded. In 11 years PCS agencies have received an increase in $1.54 per hour that could be used for increasing pay of direct care workers. Participants are going weeks and months without care and are reluctantly moving into more expensive settings.
In January of 2020, there were 2329 Medicaid recipients who were able to utilize the home care benefit. The number dropped to 1652 in January of 2021 and the number is now 1272. The care needs of these individuals do not change when access to services is limited. The care is then provided in more costly settings. For years, the Governor and the legislature has underfunded these vital services and now, in a pandemic, we have to dig ourselves out of a hole that government has created by not paying people living wages.
BUDGETING IS ABOUT PRIORITIES AND VALUES. For years, we have been neglecting this health care system. The Governor is now recommending $10.9 million increase in the personal care services budget, using the federal pandemic relief funds. I support this recommendation, and the future allocation of funding to sustain a workforce that keeps people out of institutions and in their homes.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The department of Health and Welfare reverted over $150M back to the general fund this year because the federal match for Medicaid in the pandemic increased and we didn't need as much state money. Instead of using that $150M to support health care, Gov Little and the majority party in the legislature swiped it toward the $600M in income tax rebates that favor the rich and not these low income citizens. That is NOT responsible use of funds and provides a smokescreen for majority party politicians to run their campaigns on cutting taxes instead of taking care of business.
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Where My Bills Stand and Where They Are in the Process
S1259 - Property Tax Relief for In Home Caregivers
This legislation allows in home caregivers to apply for property tax relief through the "Circuit Breaker" program by exempting the Medicaid payment they receive to care for someone with a disability in their home from income counted toward the application for the Property Tax Circuit Breaker.
- Should be heard on the Senate Floor on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
S1260 - Expanding Access to Prescriptive Contraception
This is my 5th time this bill has been introduced; S1260 would require health benefit plans that cover prescription contraception to reimburse for a six-month supply.
- Should be heard on the Senate Floor on Tuesday, Feb. 22
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S1240 - Racially Restrictive Covenants
This bill allows homeowners to remove racially restrictive covenants that still exist in the chain of title for many Idaho homes in Idaho. It doesn't make up for over a century of housing discrimination, but it acknowledges institutional racism and provides a tool to document that it's null and void.
- Passed the Senate and awaits a hearing in House Judiciary and Rules.
S1330 - Confidential Communication Protections for Victims
This legislation will align state and federal law to protect confidential communications between a client of a non-governmental domestic or sexual violence program and the staff or volunteers of the domestic or sexual violence program. Victims and survivors come forward at great personal risk and it is essential to ensure those communications are confidential and cannot be subpoenaed.
- Waiting a hearing in Senate Judiciary and Rules.
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House GOP Takes a Sledgehammer to Voting Rights
Voting rights are under attack in Idaho as the GOP works to pass multiple voter suppression laws. These laws lead to significant burdens for eligible voters trying to exercise their fundamental, constitutional right to vote. If passed, these restrictions will disenfranchise a large number of Idahoans, which is especially harmful during an election year. As your legislatures, we should be working to make your right to vote as accessible as possible, not hindering it. Here is a list of these bills making their way through the legislature.
House Bill 547: Criminal Penalties for Delivering Mail-in Ballots 
House Bill 547 would make it a crime to take mail-in ballots to the post office for anyone who is not a person’s household member. This would only create more barriers to voting for the disabled, elderly, and people lacking transportation and criminalizes those who help them
- Passed out of committee; on the House floor for consideration.
HB 439: Independent Voter Deadline
House Bill 439 would move up the deadline for unaffiliated voters to register to the GOP primary. Currently, an Idaho voter is able to change their affiliation at any time, including primary election day. This would shut out many undecided voters out, who originally would have had the benefit to register the day of. It also includes an emergency clause that would make it effective immediately if it is signed into law. That means if the bill passes, it would create a new deadline for unaffiliated voters to affiliate for this year’s primary elections, which are scheduled for May 17.
- Passed out of committee; on the House floor for consideration.
- In House State Affairs Committee for consideration.
Senate Bill 1274 would create a system of post-election audits after a general or primary election. It would direct the Secretary of State to order a post-election audit of certain elections. This has been spurred on by misinformation from the "big lie" movement, but it isn't too bad as it provides for consistent audits of a few counties each election to check on systems. It will cost about $50K each time, though.
- Passed the Senate; now in House State Affairs.
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A panel of Idaho lawmakers has introduced a bill that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — before many people know they are pregnant — by allowing extended family members of the patient to sue any doctor that performs one.
The legislation introduced on Friday from the anti-abortion organization Idaho Family Policy Center, is modeled on a similar law in Texas that is the most restrictive in the nation. Under the legislation, even extended family members like a grandparent or uncle could sue a doctor if they believe the physician has performed an abortion on a relative after six weeks of pregnancy.
 This legislation is stomach turning because about half (51.1%) of female victims of rape reported being raped by an intimate partner and 40.8% by an acquaintance. That means that this legislation allows third parties of an abusive partner to increase the leverage of that abuse and intensify the control over that victim.
At six weeks, with the use of an invasive trans-vaginal ultrasound, electrical activity in a group of embryonic cells the size of a pomegranate seed, may be detected. Extremists pushing this six-week ban deliberately use falsehoods and false images, calling it a "fetal heartbeat," to play on misguided information to conger up images that couldn't be farther from the facts.
This bill is an attack on our privacy and endangers everyone’s safety.
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This is JoAnn Vasko, she is the constituent that inspired the Certified Family Homes bill!
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I sponsored Tyler Freeman, wearing the red sweater vest, as a Senate page. He finish 6 weeks and not back to school.
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K9 Newton paid a visit to our Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee this week. He is Idaho’s first Electronic Storage Detection K9, trained to detect triphenylphosphine oxide, a chemical used in the manufacturing process for digital storage devices like cell phones, hard drives, USB sticks, and more. Newton's primary function is to assist in search warrant efforts to find digital evidence related to child exploitation and pornography.
Watch a video of Newton in action here!
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LINCOLN DAY
Each year the Senate has Lincoln Day on the floor. The program is put on by two Senators and often includes meaningful quotes shared by our pages, wonderful music from Idahoans, and important messages from those Senators.
This year, Senator Riggs delivered beautiful remarks about bettering ourselves by following the example President Lincoln set in his willingness to discuss, debate, and learn.
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District 19 Virtual Town Hall - February
TUESDAY, MARCH 8TH, 2022 AT 6:00 PM MST
Hear from your District 19 legislators Senator Melissa Wintrow, Representative Lauren Necochea, and Representative Chris Mathias, on how the 2022 legislative session is going. Please email idahod19democrats@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.
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Local news resources to stay updated on the legislature:
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