Many people have made a huge effort this year to discussing how to help teachers and students increase their achievement. Two alternative plans have been put forward. It may all be be for naught because of a majority of legislators are loath to increase public investment in public schools. Read More »

Finally, there is a bill to add basic protections for people so they aren't fired, or denied housing or education simply because they are gay. Many other states provide this protection in their human rights laws and now Idaho has a chance to join them. Unfortunately, the chairman of the committee that ought to hold a public hearing on the bill says he will keep it in his drawer unless the committee informally votes in favor of it first! Read More »

The job of our state to balance the budget, invest in basic infrastructure to strengthen our economy, and to deal with the immediate crisis created for families who lose jobs in this recession, is largely ignored by the stimulus package that appears to be headed for passage in Congress. Read More »

Even though one of the most offensive loopholes in the tax code has been exposed, the wealthy corporate dealers who benefit have spent so much money lobbying and giving campaign contributions that the Senate appears to be letting it slide for another year. It is all the more offensive coming at the same time that Congress and the President continue to spend massively in Iraq and expect sacrifices from everyone else. Read More »

A special committee of legislators voted last week to recommend that Idaho's tax breaks ought to be fair for everyone, not just the taxpayer that gets to skip paying taxes. Not only that, they came up with a list of eight criteria to use to evaluate fairness and identified the first 14 existing tax breaks that ought to be "reviewed." That's the easy part, but at least it is farther than any previous legislature has gone. Read More »

This week, a committee of legislators will be meeting for the second time this year to talk - but probably do nothing - about the problem that Idaho's tax code is chock full of special tax breaks that are seldom evaluated but now total well over a billion dollars. Lobbyists representing interests that have financed their campaigns will be there to pretty much guarantee that not sunset recommendation comes out of the committee. Read More »

The State Children's Health Insurance Program reauthorization bill passed the House on Tuesday, Sept. 24 by a solid margin. Calls made from people affected all over the US made a big difference in increasing the margin over the passage of an earlier version in August. So much is at stake that I am surprised when I hear people say they chose not to call after they were notified that a vote is pending. Read More »

Idaho's congressional delegation so far is silent on President Bush's renewed threat to veto any measure to expand the highly successful State Children's Health Insurance Program. Ten days to go before the 10-year program expires. All four of them voted against early versions in August. Now a more modest bill has been worked out. Simpson's vote appears more critical than the others given his support of other health funding bills. Read More »

In an amazing show of political loyalty over the basic needs of our service women and men and their families, 44 members of the US Senate voted against the Webb Amendment yesterday, effectively killing it. The amendment would have ensured that before a soldier is deployed back to Iraq after serving a tour of duty, she or he must be allowed to have a minimum amount of time at home. Idaho's Senators took their commands from the White House and voted against this common sense idea. Read More »

Do you think the issues that face Congress today as they go back in session will generate even a fraction of the publicity that Sen. Craig's conduct did last week? They ought to. The stakes are huge. So, I hope we can all turn up the heat ourselves. I'll suggest we can start with the 5 million kids who - if Craig, Crapo, Simpson and Sali get their way - will remain uninsured by the end of the month. Read More »