Dear Friends and Neighbors,
A milestone was passed this week in the Legislature's powerful Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee: Additional GARVEE bond funding was authorized. The $82 million dollars which will now be available will continue to fund critical transportation projects desperately needed by Idaho and in our area in particular.
Critically, we estimate 5,000 new jobs will be created in order to see these projects through. Countless thousands more will no longer be under threat had these bonds not been authorized. Some of these jobs will be created, right here in our area. At a time when the unemployment rate for construction workers is near 15%, these projects are particularly important. I also want to thank Idaho Department of Transportation board member Jim Coleman for contacting me this week with an important update regarding the US 95 Garwood to Sagle project.
While my Senate bill which would call for employers to verify the legal immigration status of their employees will not get a hearing this term, my investigations into the costs of illegal immigrants to Idaho's economy and budget have resulted in an important meeting next week. Idaho's prisons spent nearly $10,000,000 a year holding illegal aliens from many nations. Next week I will be attending a meeting between the Office of the Governor and the Department of Corrections the purpose of which is to consider how Idaho may send these individuals back to their own countries. I am sure many of you, like me, would like to see as much of this $10 million spent on education or something more worthwhile.
More good news was had when Governor Otter signed the Coeur d'Alene Lake Management Agreement with the chairman of the Coeur d'Alene tribe, Chief Allen. As many of you will know, I have been a forceful proponent calling for the adoption of this plan and I have every confidence the long term interests of all citizens are now safeguarded.
Other pieces of legislation that I am moving towards becoming law include a bill that will compel sex offenders with no fixed address to report to a sheriff's office every week so that law enforcement can be aware of their whereabouts.
This week also saw me carry a bill which will help modernize bail bonds in Idaho. Bail bonds are a constitutional right and it has been 100 years since the rules governing it were revised.
I also want to commend Senator John Goedde and Representative Bob Nonini from just south of us for the success they've attained so far in their efforts to create framework for the eventual building of an advanced Vocational-Technical high school on Rathdrum Prairie. Their legislation is moving through the Idaho House of Representatives and I look forward to it coming into the Senate before the end of this session.
As always, please continue to contact me with your thoughts and comments.
Sincerely yours,
Mike Jorgenson
mnjorgen@senate.idaho.gov
Please visit my website for further information:
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