St. Paddy's week busy for Senate
March 18, 2014
By Senator Shawn Keough

This week – the week of St. Patrick’s Day - the pace of the Legislature is hectic as we work to meet our target completion date of Friday, March 21.

I have been working hard on an issue that is important to our area and I am pleased to report progress. The Safe Boating bill has passed the House. If the Governor allows this bill to become law, enforcement, prosecutors and the judiciary will have a refreshed tool to use to hold reckless and careless boat operators accountable and allow victims to recover damages.

Other work this past week included the following bills:

The Senate voted unanimously to send a strong message to President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry through Senate Joint Memorial 106. The memorial implores Obama and Kerry to use every opportunity and resource to end the unjust imprisonment and secure the immediate release of U.S. Citizen and Ada County resident, Pastor Saeed Abedini.

His wife, Naghmeh Abedini, was in the gallery for the reading and debate of SJM106. Abedini was visiting his parents in Iran when he was arrested, imprisoned and continues to be tortured because of his Christian faith.

The Senate helped Senator Fred Martin fulfill a promise to the Parrish family. A unanimous Senate vote approved SCR 145, which urges all Idaho residents to protect their homes and families by educating themselves about the risks and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and by installing carbon monoxide detectors in their homes.

SCR 145 was requested by Jensen and Ian Parrish, whose parents and siblings recently died of carbon monoxide poisoning in Pocatello. Here in our area we have also lost friends and neighbors to this problem and others have nearly lost their lives, being rescued at the last moment by neighbors or emergency responders. It only costs about $50 for a detector – if you don’t have one please get one today.

The Senate has been working through budgets for state departments and divisions this week. For a complete rundown we encourage you to check out www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2014/minidata.htm.

The Senate unanimously agreed on S1374, which would allow low risk prison inmates to volunteer to work harvesting fruit and do other agricultural labor if there’s a shortage of workers.

The inmates would be paid about $12 an hour which can be used to pay off fines and restitution before they are released. Last season’s pears and apples went unpicked in Sunnyslope orchards because of a labor shortage.

The entire Senate agreed on the need to protect student data. It unanimously passed S1372 which clarifies what constitutes a student record and what information they can and cannot keep as a student record.

S1373 passed by a vote of 34-1. The bill provides legislative direction for the implementation of innovations in attaining and maintaining water quality in Idaho water bodies.

The Senate passed S1273 by a vote of 28-8. The bill would change worker’s compensation for fulltime firefighters. Firefighters are regularly exposed to burning chemicals in fires. The law states that specific cancers and diseases would be presumed to be occupationally related unless medical evidence shows otherwise, thus making it possible to collect worker’s compensation in those instances.

The bill is now in the House, where rumor has it that it will not get a hearing this year.

Firefighters will come back next session and try again. These folks rush into burning structures to save lives and property at great risk to their well being. Where medical evidence shows that cancers and diseases are directly related to this courageous work, we should take care of their expenses.

The Senate voted 21-13 in favor of payday lending legislation, S1341. The bill would allow people who can’t repay their payday loans an option to get an extended payment plan with no additional fees or interest. The bill would limit loans to 25% of the borrower’s monthly income.

I’ve worked on the issue of payday lending for several years and while this does not go as far as I believe we should, it is a step in the right direction, in my view.

The Senate passed S1408, to double the cap on the Budget Stabilization Fund, the state’s main rainy-day savings account, from five percent of the budget to 10 percent. The vote was 30-5. This is a fiscally prudent and actuarially sound step to insure we have reserves in place for the next economic downturn.

The Senate passed a change to the video voyeurism law in Idaho.

By a vote of 33-2 they passed H460 which addresses the use of pictures or videos of an intimate or private nature shared without consent for other such as revenge, extortion or humiliation. The bill is now awaiting action by the Governor.

The House passed the following Senate bills which now go to the governor’s desk for his decision:

Like the Senate before it, the House voted unanimously in favor of S1357 for Justice Reinvestment. The goal is to reduce the recidivism rate, promote public safety and save hundreds of millions of dollars by investing $33 million into probation and parole reforms over the next five years.

The House has passed S1277 which authorizes land exchanges with state-owned cottage sites at Priest and Payette lakes that are part of the state’s land endowment. Exchanges were halted earlier this year after legal questions were raised about whether the state could legally trade the sites for land that wasn’t “similar.” This is one of the bills I co-sponsored this year and worked hard to get it passed. I am hopeful the Governor allows it to become law and that the Land Board utilizes it to resolve the issues surrounding the Priest Lake state cottage site leases.

Child Advocacy Centers provide child forensic interviews when there is suspicion of child abuse. S1221 defines and recognizes them in state code, which may allow the centers to receive more federal funds. This bill passed the House by a vote of 49-16.

The House passed S1352 in a vote of 53-14. The bill would establish three behavioral health community crisis centers around the state. Supporters say it will provide a better option than jails or hospital emergency rooms for people suffering from a mental health crisis and who have not committed a crime. I strongly believe this to be a good direction to go to make certain that those who struggle with mental illness are treated humanely and get the help they need.

The House voted unanimously for S1350 which would create a five-person State Treasurer Investment Advisory Board and removes securities lending agreements from the list of allowable investments by the State Treasurer. I supported this bill as a critical step in light of what legislative auditors uncovered that showed that inappropriate decisions were made on securities lending and the resulting losses to taxpayers’ funds.

It was a unanimous House vote for S1275 which enhances secondary agriculture and natural resource programs currently offered in Idaho Schools, and will provide start up grants for schools wanting to offer those programs. This bill will strengthen the program in Bonners Ferry and help make it possible to start a program in Sandpoint and perhaps Priest River.

By a vote of 61-1 S1310 passed the House. The bill puts reasonable requirements in place to protect home owners from arbitrary and capricious actions by home owners associations. It sets standards courts can use if there is a dispute regarding the validity of fines.

As you may know, I serve on the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC) and am vice-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Last week JFAC 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 cut essential services even more than we did.

There are many other bills in the works and the complete list can be found at the web site listed above.

Last Friday was the filing deadline for those seeking election to offices including the Legislature. I am honored to serve as the Idaho State Senator for Legislative District One-- which includes much of Bonner County and all of Boundary County. I have filed for reelection to the Senate and hope that I have earned the continued support of the voters in the district including yours. Thank you for your consideration!

While other states have raised taxes during the recession, we made difficult decisions, actually reduced Idahoan’s taxes and have begun to restore education funding. I will continue my efforts to help provide an efficient but effective state government.

I am grateful that so many of you stay in touch with me during the legislative session. As always, I look forward to hearing from you about your perspectives and opinions on the bills before us.

Please continue to stay in touch! You can reach me by email at skeough@senate.idaho.gov or through our toll free message center at 1-800-626-0471 until the end of the session. You can also check out my Facebook page for timely information at www.facebook.com/senatorshawnkeough.