Friday, January 22, 2010

Budget challenges shouldn’t short-change Idahoans


By WENDY JAQUET

We are all established in the new Capitol. Last session I started to feel bad about leaving the Capitol building annex, but no more. The amount of natural light that has been uncovered is wonderful; I have an actual office with room for a file cabinet, a bookcase and a chair for a visitor. The work environment is greatly improved. However, because of the renovation changes, interaction with other legislators and the public may be diminished. The committee rooms are nice and large, so that should offset some of my concerns.

The governor presented his State of the State and budget speech on Monday, Jan. 11. The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee, of which I am a member, began its work the next day. Of particular concern are the closure and sale of the state park headquarters and the closure of at least three parks, one of which is Thousand Springs in our own Gooding County. We are working to help Parks become self sufficient, but this will take time and reorganization. It is interesting to me to learn that the Department of Lands, where Parks is to locate, had been working on a plan for several months while Parks was only told of these recommendations in late December. I do believe that moving the boat and ATV licensing function from Parks to the Fish and Game vendor system is a good idea and invite your comments on this idea.

Before we are able to begin to build budgets, we will need to have a revenue projection. The governor understated the state's revenues by about $80 million dollars, against the advice of his economic team. The Legislature's Economic Outlook Committee chose to postpone its recommendation until later in the month. The December numbers are down from the projection and they decided to wait until all the data is reviewed. Therefore, the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee will begin this week with agency budget hearings. We have postponed doing any supplementals to this year's budget because how we treat this year's shortages will affect the amount of money we have to work with for the next budget year.

I am particularly interested in how the state agencies will continue to deal with the cuts. K-12 education will be on the chopping block, having been somewhat protected in the current year with the budget reserve designated just for K-12, and stimulus dollars. Higher education is really having difficulties. In a recession, more people go to school to get retraining. Class sizes, increases in tuition and fees and the deletion of certain courses all contribute to workforce challenges, and a trained workforce is one of the biggest requirements to locate a business in our state. I view expenditures in education as investments.

I'll be talking more about budget concerns as the session progresses, but I want to also sound an alarm about the recommendation that the governor is making for Idaho Public Television. He is suggesting that we take IPTV off all general-fund dollars within the next four years. Public television is a service that we need to keep whole; it serves the entire state, not just the Boise Valley. The governor is also suggesting to phase out funding for the Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. This agency provides needed referrals for 8.6 percent of our state population. He also wants to move the Idaho Digital Learning Academy to other funding. I have heard compelling testimonies about young people finishing school with IDLA classes due to illness or other problems.

I am circulating my bill to create a process to review all sales tax exemptions. This is the third year I have brought it to the Legislature. Rep. Grant Burgoyne of Boise is co-sponsoring the bill with me and we have seen some media interest in the legislation.

I appreciate the opportunity to serve you as your representative for District 25. Rep. Donna Pence and I will hold town meetings on Friday, Jan. 29, in Fairfield and Hailey and on Saturday, Jan. 30, in Shoshone, Wendell, Hagerman and Gooding. Hope to see you there. You can reach me at (800) 626-0471 or at wjaquet@house.idaho.gov.


State Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, represents District 25, which includes Blaine County.




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