The 2013 legislative session is starting to hit high gear. This newsletter provides some tidbits about the issues that are being discussed.

   I know that there are many other issues that might be of interest to you. Please let me know if you'd like me to cover other issues in future newsletters. And please take the time to let me know how I'm doing and how I can improve this newsletter to better suit your needs.

   And let's be safe out there!



Whats Going On?


Voting Opportunity and Trustworthy Elections (VOTE) Initiative
   Democrats, noting issues with the last election (long lines, lack of early voting opportunity, taxpayer funding of a private election, lack of participation, etc.) proposed the VOTE Initiative with five bills meant to increase voting opportunity and strengthen our democracy. The five bills are:

  • Online Voter Registration Act - to modernize our election system to present day standards.
  • Motor Voter Act (HB-60) - registration materials to be provided to all who receive driver’s license or ID services (18 and above).
  • Private Election Taxpayer Compensation Act (HB-59) - requires any political Party requesting a closed primary to pay the additional costs incurred by the counties.
  • Early Voting Opportunity Act (HB-63) - requires counties to provide additional early voting stations based on population.
  • Voter Convenience Act - sets up a full service polling place that allows any voter in a county to vote or register at a central location on election day.

   We're working toward hearings for these bills and I'll update you as the session progresses.

Health Insurance Exchange
   An insurance exchange is an online marketplace where consumers can make apple to apple comparisons of health plans from different providers and determine whether they qualify either for a federal subsidy to purchase insurance (income up to $98,000 on a sliding scale) or for Medicaid. Under federal law either Idaho runs its own exchange or the federal government will run one for Idaho.
   The governor has broken from the Tea Party wing of his own Party and proposed a state-run exchange (SB-1042). This had led to a fight within his own Party that's currently playing out.
   The bill was sent to the Senate for a vote last week on an 8-1 vote. It should be an interesting debate this week. You can check our schedule here and you can watch here.
 
The Luna Laws Return
  
The Idaho School Boards Association is resurrecting Proposition 1 (defeated by voters by 57%) through seven bills to impose labor restrictions on teachers. Needless to say there's concern among teachers, parents, voters, and others after the recent defeat at the poll. Administrators say that they need the restrictions to better run their school districts. The governor's task force has taken labor issues off the table clearing the way for these bills. Meanwhile the bills were withdrawn for "work" last week.

Farm Bureau Attempts to Restrict Access to The Initiative Process
   Fresh off the voters' resounding rejection of the Luna laws through the referenda process, the Idaho Farm Bureau (IFB) proposes making it much more difficult to get an initiative or referendum on the ballot by requiring a set percentage of signatures from each of at least 22 of the 35 legislative districts (SB-1026). This is reminiscent of the 1997 law (struck down by the court) that required signatures by county. The IFB says they're concerned about an animal rights initiative. This begs the question of whether the initiative process in Idaho is broken. The reality is that we haven't had a huge spate of initiatives and the people have been choosy about the ones they support. If you're concerned about SB-1026 you can contact the sponsor Senator Curt McKenzie at cmckenzie@senate.idaho.gov.

Business Property Tax
   This is a hugely complicated issue with many moving parts. Big business wants to repeal the tax at an annual cost of $140 million to local governments and schools. The legislature already passed a law in 2008 (HB-599) with an annual cost of about $20 million that exempts the first $100,000 of property from taxation leaving over 85% of all business in Idaho to pay no tax. HB-599 waits to go into effect until state revenue rebounds.
   If the tax is repealed a good portion of the cost will be shifted to your property taxes and school districts will lose millions. Some conservatives want to repeal and avoid the shift by restricting local governments' ability to recoup the revenue loss reasoning that local governments haven't been hurt enough by the recession. This would likely result in cuts to primary services like police, fire, and ambulance. Big business wants to phase in the cut so your taxes slowly go up. I'll keep you posted on this issue.

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Senator Elliot Werk


In This Issue

  • VOTE Initiative
  • Health Insurance Exchange
  • Luna Laws
  • The Initiative and Referendum Process
  • Business Property Tax

 

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Visit My Home Page and find out what's happening or fill out my latest survey

Visit the Legislative Web Page an excellent place to read bills, track legislation, contact legislators, and more

Visit the Secretary of State – Elections Page to view campaign sunshine reports, lobbyist registration, and more



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Phone: 658-0388, Legislature: 332-1352
Snail Mail: 6810 Randolph Dr., Boise, ID 83709

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ELLIOT
WERK

IDAHO STATE SENATE

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

April 2, 2012                                                                                                                                          Volume 8, Number 2

In This Issue

· The Good

· The Bad

· The Ugly

Follow me on Twitter!

Handy Web Links

Visit My Home Page athttp://www.elliotwerk.org
Find out what is happening, what I’ve been up to, or fill out my latest survey

Visit the Legislative Web Page at http://www.legislature.
idaho.gov/

Excellent place to read bills, track legislation, contact legislators, and more

Visit the Secretary of State – Elections Page at http://www.idsos.state.
id.us/elect/eleindex.htm

Look at campaign sunshine reports, lobbyist registration, and more

Contact Me

elliotwerk@gmail.com

Phone: 658-0388

Legislative Messages: 332-1000

Snail Mail:

6810 Randolph Dr., Boise, ID 83709

Dear Friend:

 

The 2012 legislative session was difficult. While the budget situation improved, the priorities of the legislature reflected very poorly on lawmakers and did nothing to drag Idaho's economy into the 21st century. The bulk of the legislature seems to have lost their focus on jobs and the economy and instead wandered off into areas where government (in many cases) has no business.

 

In my time in the legislature I've seen the culture visibly deteriorate. Bipartisan activity is minimal since it is now a black mark for a Republican to work with a Democrat. The ethical culture has sunk to the point where scandal and ethics committees seem almost common. Assaults on your personal freedom and liberty have become commonplace as legislators seek to impose their brand of moral virtue as a government mandate. Idaho Democrats are now in the position of fighting government mandates and affronts to our personal freedoms.

This year (as with all years) some good was done, some bad was done, and some really ugly things occurred.

I'll try and give you a flavor of what occurred in a very condensed format. If you have questions or something of interest to you isn't included here, please email me at elliotwerk@gmail.com and I will try and provide the information you need.


The Good

Budget: One could be cynical and figure that last year with no election at stake the Republicans low-balled the budget so that in an election year there was some left over money to give out lolipops. I can't say that this was purposeful but I can say that there was some extra money this year and some budgets benefited.

Public Schools: Our schools received a very small increase in funds overall and money for a 2% teacher salary increase (after three years without).

Higher Education: After a 26% cut in higher education that resulted is less classes, lower graduation rates, and higher tuition, 8.6% was added for next year. This is a good beginning but studies show that investment in higher education leads to long term economic growth and career opportunities. Let's hope we can keep this up.

Medicaid: Some of the Medicaid services slashed last year were reinstated (about $1.5 million) after it was determined that the cuts would result in more long term costs. Dental services will be restored on July 1, 2012. 

Sportsman Issues : I fought all session to protect access to our wildlife for all, and for Fish and Game to keep the tools needed to effectively manage our wildlife heritage. To this end I (and others) fought back most bills to sell tags to the highest bidder and also an attempt to remove departmental authority over ATVs.

Miscellaneous : The roads are a bit safer since we finally managed to ban texting while driving (I have been working on this since 2009). We made high school atheletes safer with minimal concussion legislation. The governor's IGEM technology transfer proposal (reminiscent of my 2010 bill) represented a good investment in university/private partnerships.


The Bad

Jobs and Economy : While jobs are the highest priority for our citizens, the legislature persists in almost ignoring the issue. Idaho Democrats believe that renewed prosperity can be achieved by putting Idahoans back to work.

 

To that end we again proposed a comprehensive jobs package (IJOBs 2.0) that included bills for agricultural processing, providing capital for small business, enhanced rural broadband, and a finder's fee for businesses that bring other businesses to Idaho. All of these were blocked by the Republicans except the agriculture bill that passed the House and was killed in the Senate.

 

Oil and Gas: The discovery of commercial quantities of natural gas in southern Idaho is an exciting development. To regulate the budding industry a set of technical rules and five pieces of legislation were passed by the legislature. The key to development is striking the proper balance between resource exploitation and protection of the environment and our citizens. Unfortunately we did not strike that balance this session with a law passing that usurps local control and green-lights fracking without restriction.

My bills to ban the use of cancer causing chemicals during fracking and to require the Oil and Gas Commission to protect the health, safety, and welfare of our citizens were shot down without a hearing in the Senate.

 

Prisons: Our prison population is growing again (likely caused by mental health and addiction treatment cuts over the last few years). This resulted in an increase in the corrections budget even as a report on medical care in prisons determined negligent services and the privately run prison is being sued for brutal conditions (it's known as gladiator school).


The Ugly


Ethics: Ethics was, without doubt, the ugliest story this year. Despite seven proposals for significant ethics reform from the Idaho Democrats, and despite the resignation of a senator over sexual harassment allegations, and despite the investigation of a senator for failure to disclose a potential conflict of interest, the legislature actually managed to go backwards on ethics this year!

 

Republican leaders blocked all attempts at reforms. And Senate leaders actually finished the session (on the last day) by taking a giant step backwards and requiring that preliminary ethics investigations be completed in absolute secrecy (members are forbidden to discuss any allegations!). The Senate will now have a panel of six Senators (three from each party) that will meet behind closed doors to evaluate a secret complaint that can be dismissed if one party's representatives vote as a block and force a tie. And the public will never know a thing!

 

Attacks on Personal Freedom and Liberty: Much of the session was taken up by a group of legislators seeking to impose their brand of moral virtue as a government mandate. This gave us fights over women's healthcare that went national and energized women of all political stripes across the state.

 

Idaho Democrats are so alarmed at these attacks on our personal freedom that we are considering an amendment to the Idaho constitution to ensure that medical procedures cannot be imposed by government mandate. You wouldn't think it necessary in Idaho, but two decades of single party rule has a way distorting core values.

 

A Tax Cut for Your Boss: Republicans passed a cut in income taxes for the highest 18% of wage earners in the state (earn below $50,000 as an individual and you're out of luck). No study supported this as a job creator. This tax cut for your boss passed while depriving students of textbooks, people of mental health services, and adicts of treatment. You can decide whether these priorities would match your own.

 

$200,000 Slush Fund: Unhappy with Attorney General opinions that do not match some individuals ideology or reading of the constitution, the majority created a $200,000 lawyer shopping slush fund. Now (without accountability) legislative leaders can hire their own counsel to confirm that nullification of federal law is indeed constitutional (regardless of what the Attorney General and the US Supreme Court says). Imagine the possibilities (and future costly taxpayer funded lawsuits)!


I hope that this newsletter is helpful to you. If you have any suggestions about the newsletter please respond with an email. My aim is to inform as best I can. If you see ways for me to accomplish this more effectively I would love to hear from you!

As always, you can contact me at elliotwerk@gmail.com .

 

 

 

 

ELLIOT WERK

IDAHO STATE SENATE

The State of Distrust

February 11, 2012                                                                                                                                Volume 7, Number 1

In This Issue

· Ethics

· Ethics

Follow me on Twitter!

Handy Web Links

Visit My Home Page at http://www.elliotwerk.org
Find out what is happening, what I’ve been up to, or fill out my latest survey

Visit theLegislative Web Page at http://www.legislature.
idaho.gov/

Excellent place to read bills, track legislation, contact legislators, and more

Visit the Secretary of State – Elections Page at http://www.idsos.state.
id.us/elect/eleindex.htm

Look at campaign sunshine reports, lobbyist registration, and more

Contact Me

elliotwerk@gmail.com

Phone: 658-0388

Legislative Messages: 332-1000

Snail Mail:

6810 Randolph Dr., Boise, ID 83709

 

The legislative session began with a bang as my caucus came out condemning the ethical issues that have plagued state government and the legislature in the last few years. My first newsletter is delayed because I have been spending my time authoring seven ethics bills, planning press conferences, and dealing with the issue of hydaulic fracturing (a topic I understand because of my background as a geologist).

This newsletter is focused on ethics because without cleaning up the culture of the Statehouse everything else that is done is suspect.

I hope that after you have read the articles you are moved to contact legislative leaders and the governor to demand an end to the culture of arrogance and entitlement that is now pervasive in state government. You can contact Senate leadership by going tohttp://legislature.idaho.gov/senate/leadership.htm and House leadership by going tohttp://legislature.idaho.gov/house/leadership.htm .

Our democracy depends on an informed and involved citizenry - now more than ever!


A Culture of Arrogance and Entitlement

Idahoans value hard work and integrity. We understand that government should be limited and that it should work for the people - not for the interests of connected insiders. Unfortunately 2011 was the year in which ethical issues came home to roost and that the public's confidence in its state government was shaken to its core.

 

During this past year or so there have been a number of ethical issues associated with elected officials, their appointees, high ranking employees, and political party officers (State Treasurer Crane, Royce Chigbrow, John Bujak, and various legislators just to name a few). All of these issues have been associated with Republicans.

Just to be clear, neither party has a lock on ethical behavior, but in Idaho, Republicans have controlled every statewide office and a supermajority of the legislature for almost two decades. They create and foster the culture of government. And that culture is now one of arrogance and entitlement.

Along with my colleagues in the Democratic caucus I've been actively pursuing ethics reform since 2005 (following the Jack Noble scandal). Unfortunately none of the bills that we have sponsored have even gotten a hearing. Controlling the revolving door of government officials to lobbyists, exposing potential conflicts of interest by legislators, and reigning in the influence of lobbyists are just some of the bills that we have proposed.

During the Governor's State of the State speech to begin the legislative session he didn't utter one word about the ethics scandals that have infected his party. Not one. Instead he actually complimented the legislature on its honesty. That's what people usually call tone deaf. Since then he has maintained his silence on the ethical issues that continue to plague his Party.

Like you, Idaho Democrats value hard work and integrity. We intend to make sure that we renew the trust in state government that has been squandered over the last year.


Democrats Roll Out Restore Ethics and Accountability (REA) Initiative

Under considerable pressure from Democrats, the public and the press, our Republican colleagues have offered to work with us in evaluating (and possibly passing) a series of ethics reforms introduced by Democrats (some since 2005). Speaker Denny, while stating on TV that he doesn't think there is a problem in his legislature, agreed to work with Democrats by creating a bipartisan working group to look at Democratic ethics bills (none have been proposed by Republicans). Two Democrats each from the House and Senate will work with an equal number of Republican counterparts in this informal working group over the next few weeks.

Amid this development our Democratic caucus introduced three additional ethics reform bills (referenced above) that together with the ethics commission bill we are calling the Restore Ethics and Accountability (REA) initiative. The bills included in the REA initiative include:

 

  1. Independent Ethics Commission (no bill # yet) - Sets up an independent commission to evaluate the merits of complaints of ethical and criminal lapses within state government submitted by any citizen.
  2. Conflict of Interest Act (SB1238) - Requires disclosure of personal financial information by elected officials and candidates to ensure that the public can fully evaluate potential conflicts of interest of elected officials.
  3. Lobbyist Restriction Act (SB1235) - Stops the revolving door of elected official to lobbyist by requiring a one year waiting period after leaving office before a former elected official can register as a lobbyist in Idaho.
  4. The Whistleblower Reporting and Protection Act (no bill # yet) - Sets up a confidential hotline and online process for state employees to report issues of waste, fraud, criminal, or ethics violations in state government.

In addition to these bills I proposed three other basic ethics reform bills this week that are co-sponsored by some of my colleagues. So far Republicans haven't allowed these bills to be evaluated by the bipartisan working group. These bills include:

  1. Idaho Pay to Play Prohibition Act (SB1244)  - prohibits contributions from state contractors, their employees, or subcontractors to elected officials that could appear to influence the awarding of state contracts.
  2. Idaho Public Official Accountability Act SB1245) - puts in place a one year "cooling-off" period before a public official (including state employees) can go to work for, or receive other benefit from, a person or business if that public official participated in the awarding of a contract or lease in excess of $25,000 to that person or business in the two years prior to leaving public service.
  3. Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (SB1246) - imposes a prohibition on political contributions to elected officials from lobbyists during legislative sessions and places strict limits and public reporting on lobbyist gifts.

Together these ethics reforms (if passed) would catapult Idaho from its embarrassingly dismal ranking on ethics laws to the middle of the pack in the US. The laws would also provide a framework for the evaluation and referral of complaints by the proposed ethics commission. After all, without reasonable laws the ethics commission will have precious little to do!


I hope that these newsletters are helpful to you. If youhave any suggestions about the newsletter please respond with an email . My aim is to inform as best I can. If you see ways for me toaccomplish this more effectively I would love to hear from you!

As always, you can contact me at elliotwerk@gmail.com .

 

 

 

 

 

ELLIOT WERK

IDAHO STATE SENATE

The 2011 Legislative Session Ends

April 29, 2011                                                                                                                                   Volume 6, Number 4

In This Issue

  • Rapist Rights
  • Final Thoughts on 2011

Follow me on Twitter!

Handy Web Links

Visit My Home Page at http://www.elliotwerk.org
Find out what is happening, what I’ve been up to, or fill out my latest survey

Visit the Legislative Web Page at http://www.legislature.
idaho.gov/

Excellent place to read bills, track legislation, contact legislators, and more

Visit the Secretary of State – Elections Page at http://www.idsos.state.
id.us/elect/eleindex.htm

Look at campaign sunshine reports, lobbyist registration, and more

Contact Me

elliotwerk@gmail.com

Phone: 658-0388

Legislative Messages: 332-1000

Snail Mail:

6810 Randolph Dr., Boise, ID 83709


I'm thankful that the 2011 legislative session is over (as are our citizens and editorialists across the state!).

I have delayed releasing a final legislative report in the hopes that some distance would bring a new perspective on this session. Something positive that came out of the three months spent in the statehouse. Unfortunately, it has been hard to generate any enthusiasm for the session.

I can say that I have a great respect for the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee. They are a thoughtful and judicious group. I very much enjoyed my work with them on a variety of issues.

I also appreciated the steady hand of the new President Pro Tempore of the Senate - Senator Brent Hill. I find Senator Hill to be an honest, calm, and helpful individual. I appreciated his guidance and counsel during the session.

Even though I disagree vehemently with the direction of state government and with the decisions and actions of our legislature, I want to be clear about one thing. This is a body that deserves our respect.

The people that serve sacrifice family and income to do a very difficult job under harsh public scrutiny. Most have the best interests of the state in mind (even if I do not agree with their ideas).

If you wish to see the direction of the legislature change I suggest that you get active in the 2012 election. Every legislative seat is up for election and 2012 could result in profound changes. Think about it!


Rapist Rights

Last week the Senate considered and passed S 1165. This legislation would prohibit abortions at or after the 20th week of post-fertilization age.  Regardless of your stance on abortion (and mine is that government should not be involved in this decision), this bill had some fundamental and objectionable provisions that resulted in my very strong debate in opposition to the bill.

First, the bill is clearly unconstitutional because the United States Supreme Court has determined in every decision since Roe v. Wade in 1973 that an abortion can occur during the time that a fetus is not viable as determined by the physician.

The restriction on abortions arbitrarily at the 20th week violates the current standard.

As I have said in the past, I will not support obviously unconstitutional legislation since it results in costly lawsuits that drain money from critical services like public schools. This bill will likely cost the state upward of $500,000 in legal fees (including payment of the fees for those that successfully sue us). At a time of revenue crisis and unacceptable cuts to public schools I find it offensive that the legislature prioritized lawyers over students.

 

Second, the bill provides a means for the "father" to sue the provider of an abortion that is performed after the 20th week of pregnancy. While on its face it might seem reasonable to provide a cause of action to a "father", the bill provides no limitation on this. The Idaho attorney general's office confirmed that this provision means that if the "father" is a rapist, or pedophile, or incest perpetrator, whether in jail for the crime or not, they can sue for damages for the abortion!

 

This provision is so abhorrent, so against my values and the principals that I hold dear, that I debated very strongly against the bill. I ended my debate by stating, "I heap my scorn on this bill!"

The bill, which passed the Senate 24-10 (and cleared the House 54-14), is a perfect example of what is wrong with the Idaho Legislature. It has degraded into an institution where ideology trumps common sense, and even common decency. Where special interests hold so much sway that the unconstitutional, the unconscionable, the unthinking, and the uncaring is now commonplace.

I believe that we must undo this in the next election!


Final Thoughts on 2011

I want to again stress my deep respect for the Idaho Legislature. Even though I disagree with much of what is done, it is an institution that deserves our respect as do the people that serve.

To some final thoughts.

I have come to think of the State Senate as the more reasoned body in the Legislature. While this is still true, the reasoning ability of the Senate has been deeply eroded. I'll illustrate this with two issues that surfaced this year.

First is the rapist rights bill described above. I do not believe that the 2003 Senate that I entered would have allowed consideration of this bill - let alone pass it overwhelmingly.

Second are the nullification and health exchange issues that illustrate the bash the federal government at any, and all, costs mentality that has infected the Senate (and runs rampant through the House).

Nullification came back three times during the session. In debate about the final nullification bill in the Senate we had a Senator in the span of two minutes mention death panels (plainly debunked) and then compare some of the home health programs included in the federal legislation to programs the Nazi's instituted to take children from their homes. This "debate" went unchallenged by the majority and so deeply offended me that I did not trust myself to respond (knowing that proper decorum is necessary in the chamber). False and unreasoned debate became commonplace - rather than the outlier that it has been in past years.

Ultimately nullification was vetoed by the governor because of some profound impacts in our state that were not heeded or considered during debate. These included the loss of all health-related federal grants for our colleges and universities (many millions of dollars) and a prohibition on setting up an Idaho health insurance exchange to help citizens purchase affordable insurance.

The debate against accepting over $2 million in federal funding to set up a health insurance exchange (something all rational individuals agree is beneficial to our citizens) was also instructive. Many in the Senate debated against accepting the federal money because it was associated with the federal healthcare legislation. 

Under the federal legislation our state is required to set up an exchange and that is why the grant was available to Idaho. By rejecting the federal grant (as the House ultimately did) we punched ourselves in the nose to somehow spite the big, bad federal bully. Ultimately this move will cost Idaho taxpayers an extra $2 million as we set up the exchange without the federal grant. In the Senate I entered in 2003 this issue would have passed without debate or dissent. It passed this year on a 20-15 vote.

I believe that the move to the extreme right in the Legislature is based partly on the take over of the Republican Party by the extreme right that resulted in the defeat of a few moderates in the last election. And party by Republican passage of taxpayer funded, closed party primary elections. These elections will require public political party registration to cast a vote. In a closed Republican Party primary the candidate that is farthest to the right will prevail. Many (not all) legislators in the Republican caucus, reading the tea leaves, are positioning themselves as far right as possible to avoid or overcome a primary challenge.

Heaven help us as this trend continues and accelerates in the 2012 legislative session!


Thank you for signing on to my legislative newsletter list. I hope that these newsletters have been helpful to you. If you have any suggestions about the newsletter please respond with an email. My aim is to inform as best I can. If you see ways for me to accomplish this more effectively I would love to hear from you!

As always, you can contact me at elliotwerk@gmail.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ELLIOT WERK

IDAHO STATE SENATE

Legislative News

Fighting for our Schools

February 27, 2011                                                                                                                         Volume 6, Number 2

In This Issue

  • Taking a Stand in the State Senate
  • The Luna Bills - What Do They Do?

    Follow me on Twitter!

    Handy Web Links

    Visit My Home Page at http://www.elliotwerk.org
    Find out what is happening, what I’ve been up to, or fill out my latest survey

Visit the Legislative Web Page at http://www.legislature.
idaho.gov/

Excellent place to read bills, track legislation, contact legislators, and more

Visit the Secretary of State – Elections Page at http://www.idsos.state.
id.us/elect/eleindex.htm

Look at campaign sunshine reports, lobbyist registration, and more

Contact Me

http://www.elliotwerk.org

mailto:elliotwerk@gmail.com

Phone: 658-0388

Legislative Messages: 332-1000

Snail Mail:

6810 Randolph Dr., Boise, ID 83709


If you were in charge of the public school system in Idaho how would you seek to change the education system in Idaho in the face of unwillingness by the governor and the majority party in the legislature to provide adequate funding?

What I can tell you was not done was to meet with all interested parties, seek out the best peer reviewed studies to see what has worked in enhancing student achievement elsewhere in the country/world, select districts to pilot some of those ideas, and provide the school districts with whatever flexibility is needed to use limited funds.

Public education is so important that it is mandated in our state constitution. It is far too important to throw major changes into the system without the benefit of documented success and buy-in from all stakeholders (bottom-up not top-down).

Our kids can't repeat 2nd grade if we get it wrong. High school students forced to take online classes that will not count toward college entry cannot simply take the classes elsewhere before college. And most critically, students cannot be expected to achieve if we do not provide proven tools.

Last week the Idaho Senate passed two of Mr. Luna's education bills while sending a third back to committee for reworking (that means that the Republicans could not muster sufficient votes to pass the bill).

Let's take a look at the three bills in the context of what happened in the Senate last week.


Taking a Stand in the State Senate

 

Last Thursday Senate Democrats made a stand to show our frustration with Mr. Luna's bills and the overall process by slowing down the Senate and debating passionately against SB's 1108 and 1110. Our fight held the Senate in session from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM without a break.

Our decision was made because the Luna plan had been concocted behind closed doors (the genesis of the plan is the target of Freedom of Information requests), ran completely contradictory to Mr. Luna's election representations, is overwhelmingly opposed by the public (my mail is running over 95% opposed), and is being rushed through the legislative process We also object to a plan that will actually impede student achievement.

To slow the process, Senate Democrats first required that each bill be read, in its entirety, before the Senate took up the bill for consideration. Normally a sponsor asks for consent from the Senate to dispense with reading the bill. The reading of SB 1108 took about an hour while reading SB 1110 took about 20 minutes.

We then moved to indefinitely postpone debate on 1108 (that would kill the bill for the year). This resulted in debate on our motion before a party line vote (7-28) ensued.

This was followed by hours of passionate debate with our caucus leading the way attacking provisions like stripping due process for vulnerable educators and a merit pay bonus plan that mandates funding while neglecting to identify a source (meaning that funding of the bonus plan could require cuts to textbook, technology, and classroom funding).

The votes to pass 1108 and 1110 on to the House were identical - 20-15 with eight Republicans joining our unanimous caucus (some of the Republican debate in opposition was wonderful). The bills now move to the House education committee where they will hold public hearings this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. You can contact the House education committee members by going to http://legislature.idaho.gov/about/contactbycommittee.cfm.


The Luna Bills - What Do They Really Do?

 

Much has been written and said about the Luna plan. Unfortunately there is little about the plan that is covered in detail. Mr. Luna's statements offer little to rely on since he is simply advocating his position (and usually citing suspect and biased research).

 

Please understand that there are provisions in each bill that represent positive steps forward. Unfortunately the main provisions of the bills will lower student achievement and lead to the flight of teachers from Idaho (with good reason).

 

Let's take a look at the legislation to get a better idea of what is being proposed.

 

SB 1108 (http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2011/S1108.htm)

 

This bill is aimed at removing any power from the teachers association and vesting all authority with the school district trustees. The provisions are wide-reaching and will likely result in many labor actions (like strikes) in coming years. The bill ignores years of upheaval and history that led to enactment of our current law that protects vulnerable teachers from arbitrary and politically motivated firing (as was common before 1971) and results in collaboration on contractual issues.

 

Here are the basic provisions:

  • Strips due process in hiring and firing of teachers
  •  Loads all power with school district administration regarding contacts by setting a deadline that - when exceeded - gives the district the ability to impose a contract (they can easily stall until after the deadline)
  • Institutes mandatory annual performance evaluations based partly on ISAT scores and parental input
  • Mandates that school districts gather information about professional liability insurance and disseminate the information to all teachers (this is to take away an incentive to join the teachers association since they offer this insurance to members)
  • Requires all contract negotiation meetings to be held in public (unlike the meetings that were held to develop Mr. Luna's plan)

 

A peer reviewed study published by Harvard University shows that in states where collective bargaining rights have been stripped (as 1108 does) graduating high school seniors have the lowest SAT and ACT test scores. The study also shows that in states that have strong teacher unions their students score best in these tests.

 

So much for the goal of improved student performance.

 

SB 1109 (http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2011/S1109.htm)

 

SB 1109 was withdrawn to the education committee because Mr. Luna could not gain enough support to pass it on the Senate floor (Senators did not buy Mr. Luna's assurances that increased class sizes would not harm student performance).

This is the bill that eliminates about 800 teachers, increases class sizes, provides computers to students, mandates online classes, makes districts pay for college level classes, and includes a host of other provisions. The money saved by eliminating teachers in this bill was to be used to fund the costly elements in the other bills. It will likely be rewritten in closed door meetings then heard as a new bill in committee. If a compromise cannot be reached on this bill it will leave the fate of the others in doubt (especially SB 1110).

 

SB 1110 (http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2011/S1110.htm)

 

This is the merit pay bonus bill. It includes elements of a deal negotiated with the teachers association a few years back. However, it also imposes a few other elements that had either been rejected or never discussed.

 

Here are the basic provisions:

  • Requires an allocation from available funds to the merit pay system (potentially siphoning away funds normally used for textbooks, technology, electricity, busing, etc..
  •  Awards "state shares" for entire schools (all teachers in a building) based on spring to spring ISAT test scores
  •  Awards "local shares" to be used according to a plan developed by the local district for groups of teachers - plan to include some or all of test scores, graduation rate, students going on to college, portfolios, projects, attendance, and a host of other potential elements
  • Bonuses for hard to fill positions
  • Leadership awards recognizing excellence in a variety of categories like content leadership, curriculum development, grant writing, national board certification, etc.

 

I hope that you will take the opportunity to review the bill, find out what impact they will have on your district, and contact your local legislators to voice your opinion to them. You can contact your legislators by going to http://legislature.idaho.gov/howtocontactlegislators.htm.


Thanks to new technology available at the Statehouse you can view the Senate Education committee hearings live online by going to http://www.idahoptv.org/leglive/legBody.cfm?pubPoint=WW02AUD  and selecting the link for View Stream. You can get to the general Legislature Live web page at http://www.idahoptv.org/leglive/. These links allow you to view or listen to all of the Legislatures activities.

 

As always, if you have any concerns, questions, comments, or ideas please contact me at elliotwerk@gmail.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ELLIOT WERK

IDAHO STATE SENATE

Legislative News
Budget Boondoggles & School  Schemes

February 7, 2011                                                                                                                              Volume 6, Number 1

In This Issue

  • The Ever-Changing State Budget
  • The Future of Our Public Schools

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You have likely heard about Mr. Luna's public school proposals. They are far reaching and important. There are two events regarding these proposals this coming week that might interest you.

Parent Teacher Rally for Education

Monday (February 8th) beginning at 5 PM on the front steps of the Capitol.

Senate Education Committee Public Hearings

Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 8-9, beginning at 3 PM in the West Wing Auditorium

I know that many of you live outside the Treasure Valley and cannot attend these events. Thanks to new technology available at the Statehouse you can view the Senate Education committee hearings live online by going to http://www.idahoptv.org/leglive/legBody.cfm?pubPoint=WW02AUD  and selecting the link for View Stream. You can get to the general Legislature Live web page at http://www.idahoptv.org/leglive/. These links allow you to view or listen to all of the Legislatures activities.


The Ever-Changing State Budget

 

When the governor delivered his state of the state address he presented a budget with a deficit of $35 million – meaning he had only to cut $35 million to balance the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 budget. His projections were surprising considering that prior to the beginning of the session the deficit was estimated at up to $350 million because of the loss of federal monies & state reserve funds, and deferred and increased costs. It seemed like a pretty big disconnect.

Four weeks into the legislative session we are now learning slowly that the governor's projections were inaccurate, as was the potential $350 million deficit (based on costs for state employee salary increases, healthcare costs, etc.).

To begin with, revenues for December 2010 came in at $11 million below projections while January revenues look like they will be about $15 million above projections. The governor had assumed that for this fiscal year he would have a $53 million surplus to add to next year's budget. This ignored the economic realities of our economy and the need for additions to last year's budget of about $8 million. So that alone is a loss of $47 million from his budget.

In addition, for the state of Idaho to fully implement the Obama-Republican tax deal will cost between $35 and $60 million this year - if the legislature agrees to conform to the federal tax code changes. As I write this the House tax committee passed a bill to conform to only a portion of the federal tax code changes. If this bill becomes law it will cost the state around $10 million this year.

The state was taken by surprise by sales tax rebates for renewable energy projects that will total around $29 million this year (we have an incentive program that provides a renewable energy sales tax rebate). The governor's financial office did not account for these rebates.

Various and sundry other oversights and miscalculations bring us to our current potential deficit of about $135 million.

Remember that this number is subject to change. If the economy picks up between now and July (the end of FY11) and we run a surplus, this can be used to lower that deficit. If the economy grows faster in FY12, that added revenue would also alleviate some of the deficit (although too late for next year's budget since we are setting that right now).

If the current deficit holds we can expect another $35 to $55 million in cuts to public schools. This would render Mr. Luna's education proposals almost meaningless unless he removes another $35 - $55 million worth of teachers to save the rest of his program.

I'll keep you posted about the ongoing saga of the budget.


The Future of Our Public Schools?

 

During the first week of the session Superintendent Luna and the governor proposed a plan to revamp our public schools amid shrinking budgets. It's called Students Come First (a name that implies that they do not already).

 

The refreshing part of the plan is an admission that the governor and the legislature do not have the will to adequately fund public education. That is the basis for their proposal - how to meet a much lower budget number (cuts of between $235 and $255 million/year) with more students and increasing costs.

 

Please be aware that Mr. Luna's plan is based on the governor's inaccurate initial budget projection as described above. Facing another $35 to $55 million in public school cuts arising from the growing deficit I am not sure that his plan is tenable (unless he, the governor, and the Legislature are willing to eliminate that many more teachers and increase class sizes much, much more).

 

The basic elements of the plan include:

  • Increase class sizes by eliminating teacher positions - in the Boise District this will add 4 - 6 students to every class (this is the money saver that pays for any costly elements like laptops and merit pay
  • Adopt Core Standards (already done by the State Board of Education)
  • Mandate that high school students take at least 6 credits through online courses
  • Offer more college credit classes in high school
  • Provide laptops to every 9th grade to keep throughout high school
  • Eliminate teacher tenue, seniority, and continuing contracts (replaced with two-year rolling contracts)
  • Institute merit pay bonuses
  • Use parent input for teacher evaluations
  • Centralize benefits and allow negotiations for wages only
  • Consolidate some district services through statewide contracting 

 

I believe that there is some merit in the plan. Providing access to college credit classes is great, merit pay bonuses (if done properly and fairly) can be a positive thing, and consolidating services can save money (although districts will lose flexibility).

 

Other elements of the plan present problems.

  • Credible studies show that increased class sizes lead to lower student performance.
  • Mandating online classes forces students into a mode of learning that may not fit their needs (Luna has lately indicated some flexibility here).
  • The laptop issue is fraught with difficulties from teacher training to maximize effective use, to IT support issues, to special needs access, to inappropriate use, to loss, theft, and breakage, to aging computers as they progress through school, etc.
  • A recent Vanderbilt University study clearly shows that merit pay does not improve student performance.
  • The issue of tenure and continuing contracts play on the myth that bad teachers cannot be eliminated. Teachers are fired all the time if they are not competent and most issues arise from the lack of action by principals and trustees.
  • Allowing parents input on teacher evaluations is fraught with difficulty (especially if pay is impacted by this). Imagine a biology teacher being evaluated by parents that do not believe in evolution.
  • Much of this plan centralizes school operations - taking away a basic tenet of our public education system - local control.

 

Two bills were introduced last week. You can see them at http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2011/S1068.htm and at http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2011/S1069.htm.

 

I hope that you will take the opportunity to review the proposals, find out what impact they will have on your district, and contact your local legislators to voice your opinion to them. You can contact your legislators by going to http://legislature.idaho.gov/howtocontactlegislators.htm.


 

As always, if you have any concerns, questions, comments, or ideas please contact me at elliotwerk@gmail.com.