Dear Friends and Neighbors,
First, may I thank all of the fine people who came to our District 3 Town Hall meeting this past Saturday morning at Hayden City Hall. It was an excellent opportunity to hear the views of my neighbors and to ensure that the concerns of citizens can always find their way into the Statehouse halls. Our next Town Hall meeting date has already been set; it will be March 28th and will be held from 9AM-11AM at a location to be confirmed in Rathdrum. I urge you all to attend, please check my website for further updates.
The pace of this Legislative session quickened considerably this week. I am extremely pleased that legislation that I have so long supported has finally been voted on successfully. Senate bill 1111, which provided for the establishment of the Public Safety Officer Permanent Disability Fund, was passed nearly unanimously 34-1. I have worked on seeing this legislation passed for five years now and I am so happy this day has arrived. Public safety workers lay their lives on the line for us 24/7, 365 days a year and this will allow Idaho to do something for them and their families. This bill will replace a permanently injured public safety officer's lost health insurance for his family if his injury occurred in the line of duty. Many of you may have read the extended comments in the Spokesman Review article about this vote. In case you missed it, please click on the link below, where you can read it in full.
Another bill I am particularly proud of which passed
unanimously this week was Senate bill 1005, which is a bill that closes a terrible loophole that previously allowed vulnerable adults to be sexually exploited with respect to the making of pornographic material. Unfortunately, Idaho law currently does not take into account those citizens who lack the understanding or capacity to make, communicate or carry out decisions for himself or herself. Once signed into law, this will become a felony offense. This bill has the support of a great many police chiefs in our great state. Finally, I was very proud of the success of the Idaho Indian Affairs Council, of which I am chairman, in securing the participation of Governor Otter in a summit meeting with the chairmen of the five federally recognized tribes we have here in Idaho. To read a press release on this, please click the link to below. Thank you very much for reading this newsletter and as before, I ask you to please consider forwarding it to your friends and neighbors to that they too can keep up with events important to them which are happening here in Boise. Sincerely yours, Mike Jorgenson mnjorgen@senate.idaho.gov
Please visit my website for further information:
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