Long legislative session not as productive as hoped

The 2007 session ended not with a bang but with a sigh. It seemed an appropriate ending for what is being regarded as something of a do-little session. It began with disagreement between the governor and legislative leadership over the Capitol and ended with final adjournment tied up for days over a dispute about the GARVEE highway bonding program.

Overall, the session was more confrontational and less productive than my previous sessions. The new majority leadership in the House let its ideology get in the way and had difficulty working with the governor and Senate leadership, and our new governor had to learn how to interact with the Legislature.

There were many opportunities to do good for the people of Idaho on important concerns, but we were able to “close” on only a few of them. Issues that were brought forth that had popular support included local option taxing for mass transit or other uses, lowering the requirements for creating community colleges, campaign and election reform, lobbying reform, increasing the grocery tax credit or removing the sales tax on food, improving child-care standards, providing voluntary pre-kindergarten programs for school districts, and removing the personal property tax for small businesses.

These were issues that came before the Legislature that did not get enacted. Opponents of these measures would argue they were providing less intrusive government; I would respond that they were providing less responsive government.

There was progress made on some issues:

“We approved several new substance abuse and mental health service initiatives and appropriated more than $11 million to support them.

“We passed a new needs-based scholarship for Idaho students attending Idaho schools of higher education and funded it with an initial $2 million.

“We took steps to address the nursing shortage.

“We raised state employees’ salaries 5 percent.

“We created STAR financing for a new Interstate 90 interchange west of Post Falls, and finally approved GARVEE funding for highway construction, including two projects in North Idaho.

“A new state energy policy was approved that acknowledges the need for alternate sources of energy.

“We used $70 million in one-time money to address state building maintenance issues.

“We strengthened high school graduation requirements.

“We eliminated smoking in bowling alleys.

Education budgets were generally good, with colleges and universities getting an 8.4 percent increase, community colleges a 6.4 percent increase and public schools an increase of 5.9 percent. I did vote against the education appropriation bills because they gave a 3 percent increase to educators. I felt it should have been the same as for state employees.

Despite this good work, it has been a frustrating and disappointing session for me. The child-care legislation I sponsored to make child-care safer was killed by one vote in committee, primarily because several members of that committee don’t think mothers should be out of the home. I also had legislation prepared that would give tax credits to those who donated to the Women’s Center, but I did not introduce it because the Senate tax committee was not approving any exemptions or credits.

It was also disappointing to observe the tough-fisted ideological rule imposed on the majority party in the House by its leadership. Rather than letting issues be decided on their merits, they intimidated their caucus by threatening their committee assignments and legislation, and they generally pushed their own agenda. It is not the proper way to lead.

We also missed a chance to do a decent job of giving relief from the sales tax on food. Four bills were proposed, including the governor’s, which lacked support. The original bill passed by the House increased the credit by $30 per person, $35 for those over 65. The Senate amended it to lower those credits, the governor vetoed it, and the House overrode the veto, but the Senate did not. Sounds like a family feud.

On a positive note, a new interim tax committee was formed to study our tax structure, including all exemptions and credits, and to make recommendations. Perhaps the committee will offer a better bill for relief of the sales tax on food next session.

In the end, this, my fifth session, was tied for the 10th-longest in state history. I am afraid it will not be known as one of the 10 most productive.

It continues to be an honor to serve you, and to represent your interests in the Legislature.