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Education
Science standards took up most of Thursday's House Education Committee agenda. The committee adopted the majority of the proposed science standards but rejected the sections dealing with biodiversity, human impact, and climate change. Both the House and Senate Education Committees would need to reject those sections to remove them from the standards, so I will be working with my Senate colleagues to accept all sections of the new, more rigorous science standards.
On Friday the governor's Higher Education Task Force met for the first time.
I am excited to be part of this group, and look forward to working with fellow legislators, business representatives,
and stakeholders.
Our goal is to illuminate the path for Idaho's post-secondary education institutions.
The Idaho State
Historical
Society
visited us in JFAC, and they shared a rare artifact from the time of Lewis and Clark. In 1805, the blacksmith for the Lewis and Clark expedition made battle axes for the Mandan Indians in exchange for corn. The shape was so unusual that Captain Meriwether Lewis drew its image in his official journal. This espontoon-shaped blade was found along the Snake River and is believed to have been forged by Lewis and Clark's blacksmith. This "Idaho Espontoon" will be on display in the new state museum.
Economy
Representative Lance Clow introduced a
bill
to collect sales tax for online purchases.
Currently
, taxpayers are supposed to keep track of the owed sales tax and pay it with their state income tax each year. This is hard for the state to track, and many taxpayers are unaware of this requirement and do not pay it. Representative Clow's bill would require large national retailers, like Amazon and Overstock.com, to collect and remit the taxes to Idaho. I believe this is a fairness issue, as this bill would level the playing field for our brick-and-mortar retailers.
Environment
The Senate passed a
bill
allowing Idaho Fish and Game to create hunting rules for grizzly bears. This is premature as grizzlies have not been delisted from the Endangered Species Act. The last time we were faced with a similar situation was when wolves were delisted as an endangered species. In that case, the state took years to study the wolf population and develop regulations. The grizzly bear population in Idaho has not been studied in 15 years. The practice of creating regulations before adequately studying the state's
grizzly
bear population is bad policy, so I voted against it.
Healthcare
Unfortunately, Senator Maryanne Jordan's (D-17) bipartisan legislation to expand Medicaid will not have a hearing in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. The bill would have accepted federal funds to insure the 78,000 Idahoans who fall in the healthcare coverage gap. It also included a sunset clause in the event that the federal government falls below 90% of its committed funding.
Forums
Our next forum will be held on February 21st from 7-8:30 p.m. at Timberline High (701 East Boise Avenue, Boise). Our final forum of the session will be held on March 7th at East Jr. High (5600 Warm Springs Avenue).
It is engaged citizens like you that ensure our government works. Thank you for taking the time to read my weekly legislative update.
I also encourage you to follow me on
Twitter
and like my
Facebook
page for legislative updates and other up-to-the-minute happenings at the State Capitol.
Please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns. As always, thank you for all your support. It is an honor and a privilege to represent you.
Warmest regards,
Senator Janie Ward-Engelking
District 18
(208) 385-9564 (home)
(208) 332-1425 (office)
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