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Immigration, sled dogs and slot machines! |
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February 23, 2017 |
By Idaho Representative Heather Scott
Week 7 of the 2017 Legislative Session has been
the busiest yet! Floor sessions have been
starting earlier than usual in order to have
enough time to vote on all the bills and conduct
our regular business.
We have voted on bills ranging from forgone
taxes in taxing districts, audits of the soil
and water conservation districts, public records
exemptions, wine and construction management
licenses, fingerprinting for certain
professions, elections and even the
micromanagement of how names on real-estate
signs are displayed.
My State Affairs Committee has been meeting
daily for a full two hours each morning. Many
interesting topics pass through this committee.
It has been very busy and often filled with
heated debate.
This week a new bill was introduced related to
immigration laws and withholding tax revenues
from cities that fail to comply. The room was
packed for that debate!
Tribal Gaming and slot machine definitions have
also dominated the committee’s time the last few
weeks. There was more than four hours of
testimony for and against a gambling bill
related to slot machines. Currently there are
several types of machines used by the state
lottery and by the various tribal casinos that
may be questionable with respect to the law.
Vagueness in the current language makes it hard
to check if the machines in casinos are
constitutional or not.
This is why it is always imperative that
legislators insure the language of every bill is
as clear and concise as possible to avoid these
legal pitfalls. It is also critical that
citizens make their voices heard at committee
hearings.
I sponsored HB 151, which passed through the
State Affairs Committee and on the House floor.
This bill will assure that sled dog racing will
remain legal in Idaho despite the ban on dog
racing.
Many may not know, but Idaho holds three annual
well known sled dog races every year including
the American Dog Derby in Ashton, which is
longest continuously run race in America (100
years!). This bill, if passed by the Senate,
will protect this long-standing tradition in
Idaho for all to enjoy and participate.
As of today, the Senate has printed 111 bills
and the House has printed 202 along with 22
memorials and resolutions. Most of these bills,
and the majority of the bills that are allowed
to be heard in committees, have been written by
government agencies, the executive branch or
special interest groups.
Unfortunately, very few bills have been
citizen-initiated through their legislators or
by the legislators themselves.
Most of the liberty bills (bills limiting
government growth) are still languishing, locked
in committee chairmens' drawers. Some chairmen
are unwilling to put these bills on the agendas.
Legislators sponsoring these bills are given a
variety of vague reasons why their voices and
the voices of their citizens are being silenced,
but the real reason is these bills challenge the
power of top down centralized government.
I encourage all citizens to contact each
chairman of every committee and share any
concerns they may have with stalled bills.
http://growingfreedomidaho.com/bills/#email.
Committees are composed of representatives from
all across the state. A chairman comes from only
one district. We the people are supposed to have
a representative government here in Idaho, but
the “process” has devolved into numerous
committee chairmen either thinking they are the
head of a fiefdom with absolute veto power or
they perceive protecting their political careers
is more important than the citizens they
represent.
A few of the bills sitting in various chairman’s
drawers include:
* A bill to repeal the SBAC test
* A bill to make Common Core optional for schools.
* A bill to repeal Obama Care.
* An Income tax cut, (held in Senate committee)
* The castle doctrine gun bill
* A bill to allow bills with a certain amount of sponsors to be heard by
the committee … how ironic!
You can view all the House bills at
www.growingfreedomforidaho.com. |
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