Busy legislative session ends
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March 28, 2014 |
By Senator Shawn Keough
This is the last update from the legislative
session which has now come to a close. Thank you
for reading and for staying in touch! This
newsletter will continue periodically as the
work shifts from the legislative session to
constituent focused work and as we begin the
campaign season.
I hope you will continue to stay in touch! Thank
you!
‘Sine Die’ – Latin for ‘without a day fixed’ –
are the words used at adjournment for the end of
the state legislative session which was
Thursday, March 20. This was the second shortest
session in the last 14 years. We addressed many
important issues, did not address others, and
focused on growing the economy and balancing the
budget.
Here are some of the highlights of our work this
session.
Unlike the federal government, Idaho balances
its budget each year. As the Vice Chairman of
the Senate Finance Committee, I play an
important role in this effort. Over 100
different bills need to be crafted and passed to
set the state budget.
The Legislature voted to transfer $24 million to
the state’s rainy-day savings account. We also
approved a $10 million transfer to the Public
Education Stabilization Fund and $2 million to
the Higher Education Stabilization Fund.
During the fiscal challenges of the last decade,
it was these reserves that kept us from having
to raise taxes and more deeply cut essential
services during difficult years.
There may be no more important action than to
allocate funds for our schools. I’m also pleased
to report that we have approved the best public
schools budget since 2008. The budget reverses
$35 million in cuts that school districts – and
local property tax payers - absorbed during the
economic downturn of the last decade and
provides our schools with a $66 million raise.
Our budget gives more money for Idaho classrooms
and teacher training and provides raises for
staff.
Also on the education front, Rep. Eskridge and I
were able to help secure $302,300 to expand
North Idaho College’s Sandpoint Outreach Center.
This funding will help to continue to grow
higher educational opportunities for students in
Boundary and Bonner Counties a little closer to
home.
Idaho is uniquely poised to accelerate the
growth of new business opportunities, help
create high-paying jobs, and diversify the
state’s economy.
I supported the Idaho Reimbursement Investment
Act, which provides a new performance-based
economic development tool modeled on Utah’s
successful program. It gives new or existing
companies that create new high-paying jobs a
rebate on taxes already paid, so the incentive
pays for itself. Some have criticized this tool
as a ‘give away’ or somehow jeopardizing funding
for our public schools and other infrastructure.
My perspective is that new growth in jobs is
critical and that rebating a portion of new
taxes paid still leaves the bigger portion of
those new taxes with the state thus providing an
increase in funding for education that would not
otherwise have occurred. In other words, 70% of
new growth is better than no growth. Plus, and
most importantly, more Idahoans could get the
jobs they need that they can’t currently find.
One of the other important actions we took this
session was passage of HJR2. The Idaho
Legislature works to maintain tight reins on our
executive branch agencies. Congress passes broad
acts and then leaves it to the federal agencies
to create laws by regulation (the EPA, for
example).
The Idaho Legislature, on the other hand,
closely monitors agency rules and has the
ability to accept or reject rules passed by
state agencies. HJR2, which I supported,
proposes to amend the Idaho Constitution to
clarify that the Legislature retains the ability
to accept or reject agency rules. It protects
Idahoans from over-regulation and helps keep
government spending down.
This fall, Idahoans will have the opportunity to
add this safeguard into our Constitution.
With the legislative session ending, our
‘citizen legislators’ are returning home to
their communities and their occupations just as
our founding fathers envisioned. We will live
under the same rules and laws as all Idahoans
and have to make ends meet just like our
neighbors.
I think this is a terrific system that helps to
keep us in touch with reality. It is my honor to
serve the citizens of our area and I look
forward to seeing you all at the grocery store,
the gas station, and in and around our
communities. Our work shifts to constituent
service after the legislative session and as
always I can be reached via email –
skeough@senate.idaho.gov or at home – (208)
263-1839.
Thank you for the honor of serving you in the
Idaho State Senate. |
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