Lawmaker wants gold, silver standard for state

BOISE – If Challis Republican Lenore Barrett has her way, electronic transactions in gold and silver will become an alternative form of legal tender for paying bills or taxes in Idaho.

“When we left the gold standard, we did not do a really good thing,” Barrett declared to a House committee, which then voted 4-3 along party lines to introduce her bill.

Barrett, a nine-term Republican, said the legislation, if enacted, would attract businesses to the state who want to “come to Idaho and do a free-market business with gold and silver backing.”

Anyone can be coroner?

Currently, the only qualifications to serve as an elected coroner in Idaho are to be a county resident for a year and to be 21 years old. HB 492, which passed the House last week on a 47-23 vote, would tack a $1 fee onto copies of certified death certificates in Idaho to pay for training for coroners, and would require such training.

“Thousands and thousands of dollars are at stake when the cause of death has to be determined, if there are accidental deaths or suicides involved, and those decisions affect not only the family but the insurance companies,” Rep. Marc Gibbs, R-Grace, told the House, after several members spoke out against the idea of any fee increase. “There’s a need to have county coroners trained, there’s a need for ongoing and continuing education,” Gibbs said.

The bill, which Gibbs is cosponsoring with House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, and Senate President Pro-Tem Bob Geddes, R-Soda Springs, now heads to the Senate.

‘Opt-out’ bill gains support

Legislation to expand the reach of Idaho’s voluntary immunization reminder system by making it an “opt-out” for parents of newborns rather than requiring them to actively “opt-in” has passed the Senate on a 31-3 vote. Backers said the change should help with Idaho’s bottom-rung immunization rates, which Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, called “embarrassing.” SB 1335 is sponsored by Senate Health and Welfare Chairwoman Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, and has backing from an array of health groups, from the Idaho Medical Association to the Idaho Hospital Association.

Idaho’s rates are so low that the state’s rate for measles immunization is lower than that of Indonesia, Pakistan or Croatia, and its rate for polio is below that of Botswana, Latvia and Sri Lanka, according to the Idaho Division of Health.

The three opponents in the Senate included Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, who spoke against the bill, saying forms for the program shouldn’t be made available in Spanish because English is the state’s official language.

‘Tough love’ to save money

A former longtime state trooper and fourth-term state representative, Rep. Rich Wills, R-Glenns Ferry, wants a state study of whether kicking adults off public assistance if they test positive on random drug tests would save the state more money than running the tests.

Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, praised the idea as a form of “tough love” that he said would prompt drug users to become more responsible. Agreed Rep. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, “This is a very serious issue, and it’s been raised by a lot of my constituents. … We know this approach works.”

Some House committee members raised objections to HCR 55, however, which would cover benefits including Medicaid, welfare, food stamps, aid to the blind and disabled, and more. Rep. Branden Durst, D-Boise, said cutting off food assistance and other aid could prompt drug-addicted recipients to begin stealing, “because people have to eat.” He said, “You’re going to see an increased level of criminality in the state.” Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, said the study should include increased costs to county indigency programs for people who lose medical coverage and food assistance.

Wills said, “Let’s find out – we don’t know if this is even possible, but let’s find out.”

The bill estimates that conducting the study wouldn’t cost the state anything as costs would be absorbed by the state Department of Health and Welfare, though that department already is closing its offices every other Friday due to budget cuts.

No four-year phase-outs

Though Gov. Butch Otter had proposed phasing out all state funding for seven small agencies over the next four years, legislative budget writers have been ignoring the proposal as they set agency budgets. The first of the seven, the Commission on Hispanic Affairs, was given an 11.2 percent cut in general funds, a 25 percent cut in staffing (one of four positions), and an overall 4.4 percent cut in total funding. The cuts were of the same type that are being applied to all state agencies in the budget-setting process, trimming benefit costs by tapping reserves, and imposing a permanent holdback of $9,800, about 9 percent of the commission’s original 2010 general-fund budget.

The governor’s proposal for another $24,600 cut to begin the four-year phase-out wasn’t included in the budget bill. “We are not the policy committee to do the phase-outs,” said joint budget committee Co-Chair Maxine Bell, R-Jerome. “You’ll see the standard trending in all the budgets, but you will not see the phase-out.”

The other six agencies for which Otter proposed four-year funding phase-outs in his budget proposal this year were: Idaho Public Television, the Idaho Human Rights Commission, the Independent Living Council, the Developmental Disabilities Council, the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Council, and the Idaho Digital Learning Academy. Otter’s since said the proposals were merely a “wake-up call” to get the agencies to find more cost savings.