A Legislative Update from the Desk of Marian Keith, Legislative Analyst for the Bonneville County Democratic Party Central Committee –
March 30, 2015 –
With March Madness passing us by and this Legislative Session drawing to a close, there is still much work to be done. Here are some bills in various stages of passage or defeat. So in no particular order…
After passing committee and the House, the Senate Education Committee hosted a hearing on March 26, on HB 246, Anti Bullying Bill before it goes to the Senate. This is one bill that seems to be a no-brainer. But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Speaking of our younger citizens, the House State Affairs Committee is scheduled to meet today on SB 1146a to allow the use of non-psychotropic cannabidiol oil to treat severe forms of epilepsy in youngsters.
Last week the House passed a favorably revised version of the original HB 222 now HB296 otherwise known as the Idaho Teachers Career Ladder bill. The original bill received unfavorable review from educators and administrators; however, the revised billed received favorable testimony from the executive director of the Idaho Association of School Administrators, the executive director of the Idaho Rural School Association, the superintendent of the Boise School District, the Idaho School Board Association, and the Idaho Education Association. The bill still has to get a thumbs up from the Senate.
The House voted 53-17 this morning in favor of HB 311, the tax bill sponsored by House GOP leaders. If approved by the Senate, this bill will remove the sales tax from groceries while eliminating the grocery tax credit, lower top income tax rates, and raise the fuel tax by $0.07 a gallon bringing it up to $0.32 per gallon. Not surprisingly, all 14 House Democrats voted against the bill. They were joined by three Republicans: Batt, Anderson, and Horman.
In his closing debate, House Majority Leader Moyle told opponents that while he agrees that schools are important, Idaho will not have more money for schools until the economy grows and that in his words is what this bill is designed to do. It will be interesting to see, if enacted, how many of these dollars find their way into the Idaho education system. We need to hold Mr. Moyle accountable for this statement.
There’s much more to come this week. I’ll have a wrap up of this year’s session next week.
Marian J Keith
March 30, 2015