By Representative Tom Loertscher

This place can be full of firsts, and the other day there was a first that brought a strange feeling to the two-tiered House Chambers. A bill was sponsored from the balcony and as I looked around on the main floor, I noticed that my colleagues were looking around trying to see who was speaking. Then the “lights” would go on and they would realize that the voice was coming from upstairs. This will take some getting used to.

Another somewhat strange item was a marriage and family therapist bill that was heard in Health and Welfare. All who testified were in favor of the measure and to a person indicated that there was no opposition of any kind. Even after a motion was made to send it to the full House, it drug on for quite some time. A former Legislator that was there for the hearing said to me that it was apparent that some folks aren’t able to know when they are ahead and when to keep still. I told her that it reminded me a lot of when I am trying to move the cows to a different pasture and my dog stations himself in the gate.

Issues are beginning to advance through the process and we are seeing more activity on the floor of the House, most of which have continued to be housekeeping in nature. The most interesting work continues in the committees. One issue leaving State Affairs was a bill to allow sale of liquor on election day. I voted no. It is not so much that it will make a whole lot of difference, as it is the mixed message we send with this type of change. It was promoted as a revenue raiser.

One question that was asked and not fully answered was why the State is in the liquor business. The director of the State Liquor Dispensary told the committee that their number one responsibility is to promote sobriety. And yet they want to sell more. As I used to tell my kids, where I went to school that doesn’t add up. It reminds me of a story I heard once about the Russian peasants that got depressed growing potatoes and therefore drank more vodka which necessitated growing more potatoes with which to make more vodka.

Another little item brought to the committee was a proposal to designate the Three Bear Soil as the official state soil. You can imagine the puns that came from that one, but we dug our way out by returning it to sponsor. It was reminiscent of the time a bill was brought to make the rattlesnake the official State Reptile. Not very many bit on that one either.

With our close quarters it is hard not hear what is going on around you. Two of my close neighbors on the floor were discussing aquifer recharge as a possibility given the snow that is coming this year. I couldn’t help but to reflect on the last big battle that took place with Idaho Power a couple of years ago. One said that there is rumor that Palisades will fill this spring, another said he had heard it would not. All of this discussion probably means that no one really knows how much water there will be.

And on a personal note, if what is happening at my ranch is any indication there is a lot of snow piled up, most of which at the present time is in the roadways. It has been more than a decade since the snow pack at our place has looked like this. Going home this weekend provided an opportunity to dig things out at home to make room for more snow. We are not complaining by any means, after all we have been asking for this.

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From David Ripley, Idaho Chooses Life

House Committee Agrees to Consider Coercion Bill

The Idaho House Committee on Health & Welfare voted this afternoon to introduce legislation that would make coercion a crime when someone tries forcing a woman or girl to undergo an abortion. The bill was presented by Rep. Bob Nonini of Coeur d’Alene.

Legislators approved a motion by Rep. Pete Nielsen and Rep. Jim Marriott to formally consider the bill. The motion passed without voiced opposition – but two Democrats on the panel questioned Rep. Nonini fairly closely.

Rep. John Rusche (D-Lewiston) wanted to know why the bill did not protect women from being coerced into giving birth. Nonini explained that there existed a mountain of protection for the abortion option, including the federal FACE Act – but there was not similar defense of a woman’s right to choose life.

Rusche also wanted to know if this was much of a problem in Idaho. Nonini said that testimony would be presented at the full hearing indicating that more than half of all abortions apparently involve some form of coercion.

Rep. Margaret Henbest (D-Boise) asked questions related to language in the bill which makes it a crime to use force or threats of force to coerce a woman into abortion.

We could have a hearing on this ground-breaking legislation as early as Friday.

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By Idaho State Representative Tom Loertscher

Every session of the Legislature takes on its unique character. What is out of the ordinary for this time around is that in the House after three full weeks there have been fewer than a dozen bills passed. That’s not a bad thing, just a little unusual. Those that have gone through so far are the ones that are annual updates, but not much of substance. If you listen to the talk and business behind the scenes that is about to change.

I find it helpful to talk to other legislators to see what they are thinking and try to get a feel for items they are involved with. For instance I was visiting with a couple of members of JFAC trying to see what they see for this up-coming budget.

One thing that deserves attention is that over the years the Legislature has put so many statutory requirements into our budget process, that it is beginning to come back to haunt us. If we do just those things that are mandated by our own laws, we need about a four percent growth rate just to maintain current levels of commitment. That number is without any increase for state employees or school teachers and also does not look at starting anything new. Auto pilot for airplanes is a good thing, but not for budgets. At least that is not how it works in the real world.

Another issue that is getting a lot of attention in conversations is a tax credit for conservation easements. The idea being floated is for land owners to sell their ability to development for a period of time or permanently as a means of maintaining open space. The State has never been involved in these before, at least on the funding end as it is being proposed this time. Now what was that about starting something new?

An issue that has not been talked about much by the media has been the naturopathic rules that are before the Health and Welfare Committees. These rules have been two years in the making and have caused a huge divide between two different groups of Naturopaths. Confusion has led to controversy and the Senate Committee has rejected the rules. I would have liked to have had a hearing in the House Committee, but that is not going to occur for the time being at least. Now what? My feeling is that these folks all need to be locked in a room until they produce results.

Two new election bills have been introduced in the House, one for permanent absentee status and the other is all out vote by mail at the discretion of County Commissioners. Both are vote by mail proposals, one that the voter chooses and the other Commissioners choose for the voters.

The House and Senate Education Committees spent four days this week going over School Superintendent Tom Luna’s ISTARS and the IEA We Teach proposals with passionate discussion from both sides, so I am told. From the tone of the conversations, neither idea has much chance of success this year.

As we now start week four it looks like we have been in the lull before the storm. It is interesting to me to see all of the hand wringing that goes on around this place. I have never been one to dread tough decisions. To me they are opportunities and challenges. It is never easy but is worth the effort.

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By Rep. Tom Loertscher

If you are like I am, certain songs seem to get into my head and then it just keeps playing over and over. That is kind of what happened to me this week in the House, except it wasn’t music.

I had occasion to visit with Governor Otter at a reception this week and in passing I asked him if he was confident of his revenue projection numbers and asked given current circumstances if we should be cautious. He was not pleased with my inquiry and the reaction puzzled me.

What keeps replaying in my head is the last time (namely 2002) a budget was passed around this place that exceeded the revenue projection the way this current one does. We all know what the result of that was, higher taxes to cover our bad spending habits.

As a friend of mine keeps reminding me, the result of a mistake made one way is far different than the other. If more revenue comes in than estimated, and the budget is kept in line with that number we look like heroes. If we miss by overestimating and spending to that level it is disastrous. I favor erring on the side of caution, overall it is better for the taxpayer.

A little bill was brought to State Affairs by the Liquor Dispensary that would remove the prohibition on the sale of packaged liquor on election day. After being presented to the committee and a motion was called for, all of the members of the committee just looked at each other and finally with reluctance a member made the motion to introduce (print). The motion passed with very little enthusiasm.

Since then the restaurateurs’ lobby has discussed broadening the bill to include lifting the prohibition on sales at restaurants as well. The sales pitch is that the current law is outdated and we are losing a lot of revenue on the sales that day. Is anybody out there having that tune replay in their head besides me? We spend a lot of money every year on alcohol and substance abuse and then on the other hand we want to promote more sales. There is bound to be a lively committee discussion.

On the return to Boise from a fun filled weekend at home that included repairing a roof that had blown off a calving shed, I met and talked with a State Policeman at a refueling point. Our conversation went something like this.
Tom: “I’ll bet this was an easier week than last week.”
SP: “It sure was, not so many accidents and slide offs.”
I then introduced myself. “I admire the work you do, it is difficult and something I probably could not do.”
SP: “It has its moments, but I probably couldn’t do your work either.”
Tom: “You probably see some interesting things.”
SP: “I sure do and one of the more interesting things is the number of different excuses I get from people as to why they are speeding. The most frequent excuse is that they are about out of gas and are hurrying to get to a station. I stopped a young newly married couple the other day and clocked them doing about eighty nine. I said ‘Sir I have you at about 89 miles per hour.’ His reply was, ‘Yes, that is about right.’”

Proposals for transportation funding are about to hit here, one of which is to increase vehicle registration fees (another word for yearly car taxes) to raise money to pay off the GARVEE bonds. For the locals there are ideas floating around about local option taxing for roads as well. One of the more controversial proposals is to allow funding for mass transit financing that other sates are saying never is self sustaining. One Boise Legislator quipped that if that were to happen the roads would still be full between Boise and Caldwell and the trains would be empty.

And another message keeps popping into my mind. As it was said so well by another colleague, tongue in cheek of course. “Don’t worry, it’s only other people’s money.”

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From Bryan Fischer, Idaho Values Alliance

A Republican senator, Tim Corder from Mountain Home, has introduced a bill in the Idaho legislature which represents a clear and present danger to religious liberty, freedom of conscience, and freedom of association.

Sen. Corder’s bill would punish any businessman with more than five employees if he takes an individual’s sexual orientation into account in either hiring or firing decisions.

Although an exemption is granted to “religious organizations,” it’s unclear which organizations qualify. The bill easily could be used to pressure Christian day care centers, Christian pre-schools, Christian schools, Christian summer camps, and Christian bookstores into hiring open homosexuals or face the threat of government-imposed punishment.

And what about a Christian, Jewish or Muslim businessman, whose religious tradition teaches him that homosexual behavior is contrary to God’s design for humanity, and has deeply held religious and moral convictions on the subject? He’s just plain out of luck, and will be forced to violate his own conscience in order to insulate himself from potentially devastating lawsuits.

The bill creates a scenario in which a practicing homosexual can apply for a job at a Christian bookstore, divulge during the interview that he is an active homosexual, and then dare the owner not to hire him. This bill is a trial lawyer’s dream and a nightmare for everyone else.

This bill will obviously infringe on the right of an employer to select a workforce of his own choosing. The state of Idaho will now be making employment decisions for him.

And what about the Boy Scouts of America, who only want to hire employees who are good role models for impressionable young boys?

This is a transparent effort on the part of the homosexual lobby to use the force of government to compel private employers to endorse homosexual behavior.

Thus the gay lobby is working to cram its twisted view of sexual morality down the throats of Idahoans, whether it agrees with their personal moral standards or not. This is certainly odd behavior coming from those who on other occasions loudly complain that you can’t legislate morality, and nobody should have the right to force their moral views on anyone else.

This bill also comes from the self-proclaimed paragons of tolerance. But where is the tolerance in this bill for an employer who finds homosexual behavior unacceptable on moral and religious grounds?

This clearly is a bill that is tyrannical and repressive, a threat to religious liberty, freedom of conscience and freedom of association, and a bill which should be throttled by the legislature as soon as possible.

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From David Ripley, Idaho Chooses Life

Americans United for Life has just issued its ranking of the states according to the strength of protections for preborn children and other pro-Life laws. Idaho scores in the middle –at 24th.
Topping the list is Michigan, followed by Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, Kansas and South Dakota.

At the other end: Montana (#40), Washington (#36), California (#49) and Oregon (#50).
Neighboring Utah came in just above Idaho at #23.

The results are not particularly surprising, given the slow progress we’ve made here pushing against the edicts of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Among the states in the nation’s most liberal circuit, Idaho scored second best behind Arizona (#21).

AUL specifically dinged Idaho for its failure to enact legislation banning human cloning and other unethical scientific research methods, an area which has received no legislative scrutiny.

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House Highlights
By Tom Loertscher
In a lot of respects the opening of the 2008 session of the Idaho
Legislature is normal, but one thing is very different – our quarters.
It seems strange not to be in the capitol and this was a week of
adjusting to very much smaller working areas. In the House we are
stacked on top of each other on the floor with a balcony for twenty one
of the members. Committee rooms find us getting rather up close and
personal. Conspicuously lacking is a gallery for visitors to observe the
proceedings but provisions have been made for televising the sessions of
both chambers.

Out of necessity the State of the State Address was moved to the
auditorium at Boise State University. As Governor’s speeches go,
Governor Otter does not like to speak very long and he lived up to his
reputation of sounding conservative in a lot of ways. His budget
presentation contained a lot of new programs, and a lot of optimism
about the state’s economy. If the legislature were to approve
everything he outlined, it would result in an eleven percent increase in
the budget overall with a little over six percent of that ongoing,
requiring a long term commitment in the future. The red flag in all of
this is that the revenue projection for the same period is a little over
three percent. That would mean that if our economy were to slow even in
a minor way we would be in another budget crisis. I think you know what
happened the last time that occurred.

There were some positive things in the Governor’s remarks the most
noticeable one of which was his outlining a zero-based budget policy for
the future which in my view is something that is long overdue. This
process should bring transparency and accountability and new
efficiencies to agencies. Also in his budget request is a secure mental
health facility that is projected to cost seventy million dollars. I am
concerned about the cost, but it is also something that we have been
ignoring for a long time. Judges tell us that in the absence of this
kind of facility, they have little choice but to send the mentally ill
offenders to prison where they don’t get adequate treatment.

As is the case with every governor the budget picture he presented was
a sketch and he has left the details and filling in the colors to the
Legislature. I can guarantee that there are one hundred and five
different ways to finish the picture.

Bills in draft form are trickling into the committees on a variety of
subjects and we will be seeing those in the days ahead. Most of our time
these first few days is looking at agency rules. One of the more
controversial items this year is the rules for naturopaths that have
been two years in the making. Discussions in the Health and Welfare
Committee should prove to be lively.

Our new digs in the Old Ada County courthouse sort of remind of the
story about the philosopher that instructed a crowded family to bring
all of the barnyard animals into the house one at a time. Once inside,
they were told to take them out one at a time and when completed they
found they had lots of room. While it is not what we are used to by any
means, we already seem to be working the kinks out of our new
surroundings. More importantly there are kinks to work out of the
executive budget and I’m sure we’ll see some other controversy along
the way.

After the State of the State, reporters were swarming over the place
trying to get quotes from legislators about the speech. It reminded me
of calving season at home when a calf loses track of its mother and
starts bawling and the whole heard comes running. My reaction? I always
enjoy listening to Governor Otter, and this time was not a
disappointment, at least not the presentation. I do have concerns about
several items. Is a five percent increase in state employee and teacher
salaries the right number? Should we be putting some fifty million
dollars into opportunity scholarships at this time? Those are just a few
concerns, and decisions are never easy.

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From David Ripley, Idaho Chooses Life

As a new legislative battle looms over the “Comprehensive Sex Ed” dogma, another study appears from England showing that such efforts are extraordinarily damaging to young people.
Despite a greatly expanded government program to provide sex education and birth control to young children in that nation – or perhaps because of it – the rate of Chlamydia infection has hit epidemic proportions. It is estimated that 1 in 10 children in that country are infected with the disease. This report follows an earlier one showing that teen pregnancy is also up.

“These figures are astounding, and show that we need to focus more on discouraging young teenagers from having intercourse too early. No only is underage sex illegal, it is unhealthy and dangerous…,” says Dr. Trevor Stammers, a London physician quoted in a story appearing on WorldNetDaily. (01.12.08).

But don’t expect such facts to discourage champions of the “Condom Gospel” ensconced in the Idaho Legislature. Just 3 years ago, the Idaho Senate passed legislation giving Planned Parenthood $15 million in additional state money to pay for more condoms and birth control pills for children. It was only a pitched battle in the Idaho House which stopped this attack on Idaho’s kids.

Look for Republicans like John Andreason, Chuck Coiner and Shawn Keogh to once again lead efforts this session to expand public subsidies for Planned Parenthood – an action which will place our children at even greater risk.

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From Bryan Fischer, Idaho Values Alliance

As the education lobby ramps up for its annual push for universal pre-K in Idaho, it’s worth noting a Washington Policy Center white paper that indicates clearly that the educational effect of pre-K fades out over time – in most cases, by the end of third grade – and thus provides no long-lasting learning benefit to children.

Even full-day kindergarten, compared with half-day kindergarten, produces only short-term gains that erode virtually altogether in grades one through three.

In fact, social researchers are now recognizing that there are detrimental effects of too much institution-based care on the social and emotional development of very young children.

A study funded by the National Institutes of Health discovered that sixth graders who had spent the most time in child care centers in their formative years showed comparatively more aggressive and disobedient behavior in school settings than their home-centered peers.

Stanford and Berkeley researchers found that children enrolled for 15-30 hours a week in institutionalized day care showed retarded social and emotional development, demonstrating aggression and a lack of impulse control.

Plus, too many hours in an institutional setting which requires too much rigidity and routine will prompt kids to begin to shut down emotionally which slows their cognitive growth and turns off their natural curiosity.

A RAND Corporation study suggests that developing the non-academic readiness skills of children, especially minority children, offers the best chance of raising overall achievement. Such skills include a child’s disposition toward learning, self-control, positive interaction with others, and avoidance of negative behaviors. All skills, it ought be noted, best learned at home.

Thus minority children may actually suffer the most from too much institutionalized care, which may further reduce their chances for academic success.

Full-day pre-K, according to RAND, actually hinders the development of these non-academic readiness skills, and thus contributes to an eventual achievement gap in both math and reading. Children who act out, have poor impulse control and are defiant are simply not in a good position to learn.

Even RAND suggests that it would be better to direct public policy efforts toward enhancing parental skills rather than pouring more money into full-day kindergarten or universal pre-K programs.

It makes better sense to resist expensive pre-K programs, which will inevitably lead to higher taxes which in turn will only pull more Moms out of the home and into the workforce. It’s best for Idaho’s children to keep taxes as low as possible to make it possible for as many Moms as possible to be in-home caregivers for their own children.

Research shows that a secure attachment to loving parents is critical for young children to fully develop their academic potential. Pulling three- and four- year old children away from their parents is not the best way to foster that kind of attachment.

Parents make the best early educators for their children, and are the ones to whom we should look to train their children in the kind of self-control and relationship behaviors that will make it possible for them to maximize their educational experience when the time comes for them to go off to school.

As the concluding section of the WPC paper puts it, “research shows that providing institutional universal preschool and full-day kindergarten will not help most children, and may actually suppress their normal social and emotional development.”

Further, “research indicates that success in early childhood learning depends first and foremost on family support, especially from parents, and not on institutional programs. Any public early education policy that does not build on a supportive home life for children is unlikely to succeed.”

Bottom line: If we truly want to do what is best “for the children,” we will resist efforts to push universal pre-K on the public and instead prefer policies that strengthen the family, which as a child development psychologist says, is “the most effective and economical system for fostering and sustaining (a) child’s development.”

Washington Policy Center . Reviewing the Research on Universal Preschool and All-Day Kindergarten

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From Bryan Fischer, Idaho Values Alliance

State Superintendent Tom Luna supports a “dual enrollment” policy which would allow high school students to get a jump start on their college education while still enrolled in Idaho high schools.

Some version of this policy makes good educational and fiscal sense, and should be very attractive to Idaho families.

Idaho gives its “graduation test” (the ISAT) in the 10th grade. A student who passes the test as a sophomore has, according to Idaho standards, demonstrated his academic proficiency in the subjects we have decided every high school graduate must know.

It makes little sense, then, to strap such a student into his seat for another two years for more high school education when he has already passed what the education establishment calls the “high stakes” graduation exam.

We ought to allow high school students who have passed the ISAT to immediately start working either on a college degree or to begin pursuing a trade by entering a votech school or beginning an apprenticeship. The many distance learning tools available would enable college-bound students to continue living at home, if their families choose, in their 17th and 18th years.

Further, the $10,000 a year of taxpayer money that we spend educating each junior and senior could be made available as financial assistance for college or trade school. This creates the possibility that by the time today’s student graduates high school the same student in the high school of tomorrow could already have the first two years of college under his belt.

The state wouldn’t spend any more money on education under this proposal than it does now, and yet Idaho families would be left with just two years of undergraduate tuition to cover rather than four by the time their student turns 18.

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