The Legislature Adjourns Sine Die
Out Like a Lamb...#IDLEG Adjourns After Lion's Share of Bad Bills
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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The Senate adjourned Sine Die yesterday afternoon without overriding any of the Governor’s vetoes. I was most happy that the House did not even attempt to override the veto of HB 782 (Judicial Council) and that the Senate fell three votes short of overriding SB 1381 (barring private company vaccine mandates). No effort was made to override two other vetoes, one on a bill that would have created more uniformity in assessing storage units for property tax purposes and the other on the K-12 school funding formula which is currently handled by a rule. It is my understanding the rule will remain in effect.
So March goes out like the proverbial lamb...for all the puffed up attacks on the independent judiciary and business who want to protect employees, both bodies realized they didn't have the votes to override the Governor's vetoes. Thank goodness!
It is an honor to serve as your District 19 Senator fighting to advance a world class educational system, grow an economy that works for everyone, build a comprehensive transportation system including public transit, ensure access to health care, safeguard voting rights, and protect access to your public lands.
In the face of great adversity, your D19 legislators fought hard for our collective values! However, we are disappointed that too much of this legislative session was spent in partisan posturing, majority party infighting, and legislative power grabs that seek to marginalize the attorney general’s office and judicial branch. Hateful bills passed both chambers with no regard for the duty or powers of the state government. The worst may have been S1309. It was signed by the Governor on March 23rd and allows relatives of rapists to sue the provider if she has a constitutionally protected abortion. This is a new low.
A range of House bills tried to limit educators’ permissible speech, restrict health procedures, and threaten librarians with jail time. These bills served one purpose – to give their proponents a wedge issue to campaign on, no matter the cost to Idahoans. There were also attempts to slash education budgets further because our institutions encourage “diversity” and ”inclusion,” and both chambers passed resolutions to rewrite American history without acknowledging racism or injustice.
Instead of addressing Idahoans’ priorities, including property tax solutions, the first bill out of the gate was a lopsided income tax rebate that did very little for everyday folks and shirked our responsibility for funding vital services. The simplest and most effective way to help homeowners is to raise the homeowners’ exemption, fully fund education to eliminate the need for over $200 million each year in levies, expand the property tax reduction program to help seniors and Idahoans with disabilities age in their homes, and fund the development of affordable and workforce housing. Democrats proposed bills to accomplish these aims, but they did not receive hearings.
We fought hard, yet the legislature fell short on many of Idaho’s needs in a year we had funding available.
- Real property tax reduction? DOUBTFUL! The homeowner’s exemption wasn’t discussed even though it’s an obvious solution to our shifting tax load. We did pass a bill to increase state funding for public defense, which will lower county costs and reduce tax loads.
- Reduce the need for levies? NO! Democrats had a bill to use some of our record surplus to pay off debt and levies, but it didn’t get a hearing.
- Full Day Kindergarten: ALMOST. The promise of all-day kindergarten was flattened and passed as an opt-in literacy program, due to watered-down, partially funded execution by a majority party that doesn’t prioritize well-educated children or capable teachers.
- Removing the sales tax on food? NO! All we passed was a small increase to the grocery tax credit that Idahoans won’t receive until 2024.
Success in the Face of Adversity - While all this fighting was going on, Team 19 muscled up and got our important bills across the finish line to…
- Remove racially restrictive language on property deeds/covenants: S1240 allows residents to file documents in their County Clerk’s office to address racist language on their property deeds. Those provisions have been illegal since the 1968 Fair Housing Act, but thousands of properties in Idaho still have offensive racist language designed to prohibit people of color from owning property in affluent neighborhoods. Starting July 1, residents can make that language null and void.
- Protect domestic violence victims: S1332 will maintain confidentiality between victims of violence seeking help from domestic/sexual violence programs and help keep them safe when reaching out for help from a dangerous situation.
- Aid the children of fallen service members: H461 updates the State Board of Education’s ‘Freedom Scholarship’ so children of the service members who died in last year’s tragic Blackhawk training exercise crash will be eligible along similarly situated Idahoans.
- Improving public health: HCR30 declares October 9th of this year Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcus (PANDA)/Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) Awareness Day. PANDA/PANS is a condition that few are aware of but causes significant and harmful effects on thousands of Idaho’s children and their families.
- PROPERTY TAX RELIEF! S1259 provides property tax relief for homeowners who care for adults with disabilities.
We successfully beat back a GOP attack on renters that would prohibit cities from setting reasonable limits on rental application fees, a response that Boise took to address common and predatory practices by unscrupulous landlords.
We succeeded in supporting our schools, with improved educator benefits, and more district funding, but we still have some of the most underfunded schools in the country. If we want our next generations to be competitive in a modern economy and technical marketplace, we need to invest in them.
On a close vote, which Democrats saved, the legislature approved $50M for a workforce housing fund. Democrats have been fighting for this long overdue investment to address our housing shortage.
As always, thank you for the opportunity to serve. Regardless of the challenges, we will continue to fight for you and what matters most.
Sincerely,
Senator Melissa Wintrow
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Campaign Season Begins
Fighting Extremism Moving Into Our Neighborhoods
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I have worked over the last 8 years to advance our values for education, fairness, inclusion, and a common sense working government. I have passed legislation that will have lasting impacts on our state, including transforming how we process, preserve and track sexual assault kit evidence.
This past session I was able to pass 4 bills to help reduce property taxes for in-home caregivers, secure legal confidentiality for victims seeking help at domestic violence shelters, increase transparency when someone has debt, and remove racist language from deeds and covenants.
My opponent this November has been found on extremist websites. We have to be vigilant in our fight for our values and for reasonable, common sense government.
Please contribute to my campaign if you are pleased with the work I have done.
THANK YOU!
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WCA Tribute to Women in Industry Awards (TWIN)
Thank you!
Thank you, Western Trophy's Jo Egbert and Traci Ehlers, for nominating me for the TWIN award through Boise's Women's and Children's Alliance. There are over 1,200 TWINs who have been recognized since 1994; the award originated as a way to recognize and connect women in industry and business, and recognize their leadership in a world that didn't always value women as formal leaders.
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Yesterday, the last day of Women's History Month, I was so blessed to take a break from the last day of session to join wonderful colleagues for a beautiful tribute. I'm so thankful for all the mentors and coaches who have supported me along the way. It takes a village!
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"One of the most courageous things you can do is identify yourself, know who you are, what you believe in, and where you want to go." Sheila Murray Bethel
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