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OFF TO A BLUSTERY START
WEEK 1
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The First Bills Out of the Gate
Abortion, Libraries, and Funding to Religious Schools!
Some of the first bills introduced this past week deal with our precious freedoms and schools. This is no surprise, but I had hoped for a different start.
Julianne Young introduced H381, which would remove the word "fetus" (from our already cruel criminal abortion bans) to "pre-born child. She said it really doesn't do much, but it's right out of the play book of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group that has been labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and hired by our Attorney General. This could lead to giving "personhood" and rights to a zygote rather than focus on the rights of a grown woman and the autonomy she has over her own body.
There were two library bills introduced: S1221 would require public schools to develop local panels and processes to review materials that are challenged as "harmful" and the other, H384, which is A LOT like the old library censorship bill that the governor vetoed last session. Deja vu.
Finally, Brian Lenny and Elaine Price introduced SJR1, a constitutional amendment to allow public funds to go to religious schools. This is another piece of the puzzle that extremists have to destabilize and destroy public education and to send public money to private, religious schools and for profit organizations.
A Word About the Budget
With state revenues declining from boon years and finally stabilizing, and with federal funds from COVID drying up, the Governor laid out his plans last week for how to spend our valuable tax dollars. However, once the fanfare of his state of the state was over, the realities of politics set in. His plan to invest funds over a 10 year period to leverage about 1 billion dollars for school facility repairs, is hardly popular to many of his colleagues and hardly enough for the needs we have right now -- our schools have been shortchanged year after year and we have 1 billion dollars in need right now!
Unfortunately, GOP legislators (led by the Governor), passed a flat tax last year, permanently decreasing income revenue, on top of draining the general fund by more than 2 billion dollars in the past 5 years with income tax rebates that benefit the wealthy and well connected instead of Idaho working families. You remember the income tax rebate you got in the mail 2 weeks before the last election? That was no accident.
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So, instead of taking care of kids and our schools FIRST, the majority party chose to line the pockets of folks who don't need it, and let our schools continue to crumble. I, too, was happy to hear about some attention finally going to school facilities, but the enthusiasm wanes when you really think about the policies that have been enacted over the years that have put us in such a desperate position in the first place.
And as you look at the Governor's budget more closely, as JFAC did last week, you'll see glaring holes he didn't fund, like a $40 million hole in the Medicaid budget to address the direct care workforce shortage that has come to crisis levels, leaving people with disabilities without basic needs in their homes. He expects to increase taxes on hospitals to fund this program which takes a vote by the legislature -- savvy political move to put the legislature over a barrel and put people with disabilities in the middle of a political battle over money. And what he doesn't say is that he asked us to raise taxes on hospitals a few years ago, "just this once," even though the state had hundreds of millions of dollars in excess revenue. Instead of using our revenue to take care of our responsibilities then to support our aging and disabled population, the legislature gave income tax breaks that benefited the wealthy and well connected.
Speaker Moyle and other GOP members have announced they want to do more income tax rebates and find money for their voucher scheme. I don't see where the money will come from unless they cut vital services from state agencies to educate our kids, provide accessible health care, maintain roads and bridges, and so on.
I'll keep you posted.
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IDAHO FREEDOM TO READ-IN
Standing up for the First Amendment
My Own Story of Indoctrination and Unlearning
On Saturday, I was honored to raise my voice with hundreds of others who value our freedom to read what we want and to protect the content that is allowed in our public libraries.
Here is what I shared ....
My journey as an equal rights warrior began in an American literature course when I was a college sophomore at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. An entitled white student at a prestigious university, I glanced through the syllabus of my 19th Century American Literature course only to discover the list of authors was predominantly women.
Without a single critical thought, I raised my hand, and once called on, asked my professor, "Dr. Bauer, had I wanted to sign up for a women's studies course, I would have..." The class was silent.
Unaffected by my question, Dr. Bauer, a tall silhouette framed by the bright light of the window behind her, leaned against her desk and said, "And what gave you the impression that all 19th century authors were men?"
Despite the sting of my own ignorance and the heat of embarrassment that burned on my cheeks, her matter-of-fact question got me thinking.
Indeed, what had given me that impression? A bit of indoctrination...
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A powerful day in the Statehouse where a large crowd voiced their concern about censorship of any kind and support for our librarians and our First Amendment Rights.
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I'll track my Steps for Schools and if I average 10K steps a day, Blue Cross will write a check for a school in my district.
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The staff and pages are shown here being sworn in for the duties that lie ahead.
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I'm asked regularly, "How do you do it?" referencing serving as a Senator.
Well, it's because I love my community, and I feel truly honored to serve you and represent District 19.
Thank you for all your support and Happy New Year!
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Local news resources to stay updated on the legislature:
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