The Unsurprising Fear of Social Justice…from the majority…

Education - a little progress in a sea of turmoil 

Idahoans have long considered education one of their top priorities for the Legislature to address, with it appearing as a top five issue in a 2020 survey, so it is especially encouraging to see a little progress on this front led by Senate and House Democrats.  Senator Ward-Engelking and others on both sides of the aisle have been working on H331, which provides for optional full-day kindergarten in every school district in Idaho.

   H331 is scheduled for a hearing before the House Education Committee on Monday, March 15 at 8:30am. You can express your views to the committee by emailing the members or signing up to testify remotely--sign-up through the link on the committee agenda.

House Republicans have introduced a number of bills to undermine public education in Idaho. The Senate Education committee will hold hearings in the coming weeks on a these particularly troubling bills.

• H248 would give districts the option to provide improved health care benefits to teachers and staff, but this would come at the expense of teachers' pay. This bill becomes particularly problematic if H174 passes, because H174 makes it optional for districts to bargain with teachers' unions. In combination, this would mean districts could unilaterally take pay from teachers to cover increased costs for improved health care coverage for staff as well as teachers.
   
• H221 would allow school districts and public charter schools to give individuals over 18, with a Bachelor's degree in any subject, a local certificate to teach in that district or charter. The bill is intended to make it easier to fill teacher vacancies, however, this mechanism would place people in the classroom with no experience or training in teaching. Also troubling, this local certification would result in no ethics board over these individuals. Idaho already has four non-traditional programs for individuals to become fully certified teachers and two methods for non-traditional certification through the Idaho State Board that provide more training and oversight. How about pay people fair wages and they will stick around?
   
• H249 shifts sex education from parental opt-out to opt-in. The bill would require parents to provide permission within two weeks of the subject being taught, which is out of cycle with other permissions that are commonly given by parents at the beginning of the school year and seems likely to lead to many parents overlooking the need for permission.
   
• H294, on its face, seems innocuous enough---it provides grants as part of the “Strong Students” program. However, the second section of the bill creates ‘scholarships’ for private schools essentially creating a voucher program to take public funds and put them into private schools, which is not allowed in the Idaho Constitution. Yet again, the GOP is abdicating its constitutional obligation to fund public schools by diverting public funds into private and for-profit schools. Idaho tax dollars should be funneled into Idaho public schools so that all students have access to exceptional education opportunities.  

Democrats have been trying to introduce legislation to raise the income threshold and the benefits received for the The Property Tax Reduction Program (Circuit Breaker), which is a program designed to reduce property taxes for qualified applicants based on income from the previous calendar year. It doesn't look hopeful that House GOP leaders will allow us to introduce this bill nor one to raise the homeowners exemption to provide needed property tax relief.  We will keep trying.  

In the meantime, check the qualifications below and apply if you qualify:

1. Owned AND lived in a home in Idaho that was your primary residence before April 15, 2021 and 

2. Earned less than $31,900 in 2020, and  met one or more of the following as of January 1, 2021

• Age 65 or older

• Widow(er)

• Blind

• Fatherless or motherless child under 18 years of age

• Former prisoner of war/hostage

• Veteran with a 10% or more service-connected disability or receiving a pension from Veterans Affairs (VA) for a non-service-connected disability

• Disabled as recognized by the Social Security Administration, Railroad Retirement Board, or Federal Civil Service. If you’re not covered by the listed agencies, then disabled as recognized by a public employee retirement system.

If you meet this criteria you can apply for the tax relief by doing the following: 

1. Contact your country assessor for application materials

2. Complete an application and file by April 15, 2021 providing proof of:

• Income

• Medical expenses

• The requirement(s) you meet (age 65 or older, blind, VA disability, etc.)

• Ownership, if the property is owned by a trust or limited liability corporation (LLC)

    *You must reapply each year to receive the tax reduction. 

This program hasn’t been updated in over a decade and it needs to be. I am advocating that we raise the income threshold and allow for a larger amount of tax relief. Unfortunately, the chairs of the House and Senate tax committees are not interested in hearing this legislation.  I am deeply concerned about some of the solutions I’m hearing to tax relief which focuses on income tax reductions that do less to assist in this area. I will continue to advocate for sensible property tax relief.

HB72- We continue to rack up national headlines and I would laugh if this wasn’t so sad. The last powerball in Idaho will be in August after operating for 30 years in our state over fears of foreign participation and in turn will cause the loss of millions of dollars yearly that previously went to our schools. 

H122 - would allow school employees to carry concealed guns at school if they hold an enhanced concealed-carry permit. This bill passed the House. 

H126 - would amend Idaho’s list of controlled substances to allow hemp production. This bill passed the House and is in the Senate. 

SJR102-- amendment to allow the State Legislature to call themselves into session outside of the regular session. The Senate voted 24-11 in favor of SJR 102 which seeks to amend the Idaho Constitution and allow the State Legislature to call themselves into session with the presence of 60% of each house. I am opposed to this legislation but nevertheless, it passed the Senate and is being held at desk in the House. 

H220 - seeking to halt all public funding, from all levels of government, to Planned Parenthood or any other entity that provides abortions or abortion counseling, or any person or entity affiliated with them, for any purpose. This passed the House and was referred to the Senate State Affairs committee.
 

  S1110 - makes the ballot initiative process nearly impossible by increasing the signature threshold to an unreachable amount so only big money special interest groups could get something on the ballot.  This is one more power grab by our legislature. This passed the Senate and has been filed for the third reading in the House. 
 

SB 1088- require that fees that will be charged to tenants be disclosed up-front in the lease. Passed out of the Senate.

H216 - MEDICAID Expansion budget - this budget got approved in the Senate and the House and is on it’s way to the Governor’s desk!  

Legislative Resources:

• Eye on Boise: the latest Boise and Capitol news daily by Betsy Z. Russell; get an overall understanding of the main events during the legislative session

• Idaho Legislature Website: the statehouse is open to the public, you are also welcome to join remotely via:

  • Live Online, or Archived Recordings

• Remote Testimony: follow this link to register to give online testimony  through the committee agendas

• MyBillTracker: create an account to follow proposed legislation and get email notifications.  

COVID Resources: 

• Eligible patients can now sign up  for appointments to receive a vaccine from Walmart

• Vaccine pre-registration 

• Idaho vaccine dashboard

• BRAND NEW WEBSITE for WHEN and WHERE to get vaccinated 

• General vaccine information

• Crush the curve: find vaccine by phone or online 

• The importance of getting immunized

• Idaho’s Coronavirus Vaccine Advisory Committee

• Group priority timeline

• New York Times Vaccine Tracker