Newsletter, February 21, 2018

Floor Session:

The busy atmosphere continued this week with most Bills passing unanimously due to their being "clean up" legislation. A couple of notable exceptions were H465 and H471. H465 was a Bill that would have restored Medicaid funding for dental procedures, costing the State approximately $1.1 million, and anticipating savings going forward due to better health. Although there was little debate, it barely passed with a narrow vote margin of 36-32-2. H471 seemed to be an innocuous Bill regarding driving too slow in the left lane of traffic. This Bill was heavily debated, and eventually passed 41-28-0. Much of the concern was that we were adding an unnecessary law that was somewhat ambiguous and already existed at the discretion of law enforcement.

As in previous Legislative Sessions, all Bills passed and all votes are "YES" unless otherwise noted.

H475 Supplemental appropriation for mental health services

HCR39 Resolution honoring Idaho's 2018 Winter Olympic athletes

H493 Authorizes State Controller Business information Infrastructure project

H454 Amends law regarding dividend's and distributions for Insurance Companies

H400 Amends law regarding retirement allowance benefits and accrual

H401 Amends law regarding PERSI definitions

H402 Amends law regarding Fireman's retirement fund

H449 Amends law regarding capital gains tax on precious metals

H450 Amends law regarding foregone tax increases

S1236 Supplemental appropriation for Dept. of Agriculture $209,000

S1237 Supplemental appropriation for Dept. of Agriculture pest control $209,700

S1251 Supplemental appropriation for Industrial Commission $400,000

H465 Amends law regarding dental services paid by Medicaid N

H407 Amends law regarding goat assessment

H452 Amends law regarding short-term rentals

H453 Amends law regarding adoption expense tax deductions

SP101 Honoring former Senator Bart Davis

H466 Amends law regarding minimum wage and family employees

H476 Amends law regarding fish and game licensing

HCR33 Rule rejection regarding big game takings

HJM10 Supporting actions of U.S. Forest Service regarding Stibnite Gold Project

H399 Amends law regarding PERSI and employee election N

H431 Amends law regarding State Hospital employees

H432 Creates Workforce Development Council

H433 Amends law regarding Dept. of Administration director responsibilities

H434 Amends law regarding Dept. of Administration code references

H415 Allows excused absence from school for playing taps at a military funeral

S1256 Supplemental appropriation for Regulatory Boards $30,000

H486 Amends law regarding county election records

H492 Amends law regarding property tax reduction for disabled veterans

H513 Amends law regarding sales tax exemption for free and charity clinics N

S1210 Amends law regarding Eastern Idaho Technical College

S1222 Establishes provisions for a funding mechanism for career tech schools

H362 Amends law regarding gasoline tax refunds

H363 Amends law regarding tax collection on gaseous special fuels ( I carried this Bill)

H469 Amends law regarding school safety patrols

H471 Amends law regarding vehicles impeding the flow of traffic in left lane

S1215 Amends law regarding election notices

S1216 Amends law regarding fire protection district compensation

HCR38 Declaring Eating Disorders Week Feb. 26 through Mar. 4

H514 Amends law regarding property held by trusts, corporations, and individuals

Committee Reports:

JFAC:

This week we continued budget hearings from the various agencies, heard more supplemental requests, heard from the germane Committee Chairmen, and started setting the 2019 budget on Friday.

The budgets that were addressed were:

Idaho State Police

Brand Inspection

Peace Officer Standards and Training

Racing Commission

Division of Idaho State Police

Military Division

The supplemental requests were:

Animal identification software $86,400

Dig line-damage prevention $60,200

Replace District 3 Shop ITD $1,380,000

Land lease $52,000

Child welfare additional staff $267,000

Backfill FY 2017 held payments Dept. of Health/Welfare $56,300,000

Community Based Personal Care services $1,650,000

eWIC Implementation Project $831,000

cash transfer for TRICARE $3,600,000

Germane Committee presentations:

House Health and Welfare

Senate Education

House Education

House Agricultural Affairs

Senate Agricultural Affairs

House Judiciary and Rules

Senate Judiciary and Rules

Senate Local Government and Taxation

2019 Budgets:

Dept. of Finance $668,000 +3.5% over 2018

Dept. of Insurance $10,209,400 +5.4% over 2018

Board of Tax Appeals $608,600 +0.3% over 2018

Public Health Districts $10,139,000 +0.5% over 2018

Division of Veterans Services $34,239,900 -23.2% under 2018

Office of Drug Policy $4,823,500 -1.1% under 2018

Transportation & Defense:

We heard 10 House Bills this week.

H362 gas tax refund claims

H363 Fuels tax special fuels

H469 school safety patrols

H471 traffic, left lane

HJM012commercial drivers licenses

H543 Seat belts, mail carriers

H388 motor vehicle emergency approach

H507 rotary license plates

H506 military vehicles

H511 heritage trust license plates

All Bills were sent to the House Floor with a "do pass" recommendation except two. H511 was held in Committee and H507 was sent to general orders for amending

Business:

We only had two meetings this week. We heard 9 House Bills.

H458 Architecture practice act

H459 Real estate appraisal review

H497 Motor vehicles, towing

H478 electricians, inspectors

H479 electrical contractors, licensing

H480 electrical work, limited license

H521 Motor vehicle service contracts

H522 certificates of insurance

H526 Farm equipment agreements

All were sent to the House Floor with a "do pass" recommendation

I encourage you to contact me with any questions or concerns, and I am grateful for the opportunity to represent District 1 in The Idaho House of Representatives.

Lord Bless,

Sage G. Dixon