Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This week, after what seemed like an eternity, Governor Otter released his plans for accepting and spending Idaho's share of federal stimulus money. At a private meeting with the Governor I discussed with him our mutual misgivings about any plan to spend our way out of a debt crisis. Neither of us wants to see our children, grandchildren and heaven forbid, great-grandchildren saddled with this burden. However, the harsh reality is every American citizen will be responsible for this debt regardless of whether or not our Governor accepted Idaho's portion.
The Governor's plans will find a somewhat difficult reception in the Legislature, simply because so much of his plans seem to be bound up in little more than transportation. I support the Governor's insistence on carrying through with the GARVEE bond program. This program is paying for the highway from Garwood to Sagle that we need so badly. Citizens need to be reminded that these funds are paid off using federal highway money and do not come out of the wallets of Idaho's citizens. Beyond this, the progress of funding transportation is still very much in doubt.
My concerns with the spending of the stimulus revolve around cuts in education at the expense of transportation and other favored projects. I am not sure that more funds could not have been found to preserve education for as long as possible. Both are priorities but it seems one is coming up a little shorter than the other.
With respect to my legislation, I am still awaiting the opportunity to present my proposed bill on immigration employer reform to Senate State Affairs. I was able to spend one hour talking about this proposed bill on Nate Shelman's afternoon show on KBOI-AM here in Boise. This is one of the most listened to radio programs in Idaho and the response was overwhelming. You can listen to the edited program by clicking on the link below and downloading it. It is a large file, but there are no commercials to sit through. I hope I am able to move this bill forward as there are now 51,000 Idahoans out of work and thousands of jobs could go to them if we forced employers not to hire illegal immigrant workers. Nate Shelman has also posted interesting documents I sent him on his blog. You can see those by clicking on the link as well.
Senate bill 1111, my bill to assist the families of permanently disabled public safety officers has passed out of the relevant House of Representatives committee unanimously. The bill will now be debated and voted on by the full House and once passed, sent onto the Governor to be signed into law.
Last week I mentioned my sponsorship of H60, a bill to allow law enforcement to subpoena Internet Service Providers (ISP's) for information on anonymous users and traders of child pornographers. I am pleased to mention the bill received its second reading today,Friday, in the Senate. I will keep everyone updated on this progress.
Finally, many readers will have noticed the news articles on the Charles Nipp affair, but in the event you had not, please click on the links below to read both the recent news article and my printed commentary in the Coeur d'Alene Press. A new development is my receipt this week of a letter from LCDC attorney Scott W. Reed seeking information from me regarding this matter. I am referring the letter to the office of the Attorney General for response, as would be appropriate.
As always, please feel free to contact me directly at the email address below.
Sincerely yours,
Mike Jorgenson
mnjorgen@senate.idaho.gov
Please visit my website for further information:
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