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| published Saturday, January 20, 2007 |
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http://mflinn.com/cartoonup/mupload/01192007-2128_ledge07-1.tif or http://mflinn.com/cartoonup/mupload/01192007-2132_ledge07-1.jpg It’s a cartoon with attitude! Pass on the eyeopener and let us know what you think.
“We must come to see that the society we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. That will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man. … How long [will it take]? Not long. Because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.” MLK, March 1965
. So in the same week that Martin King would have turned 78, the annual public policy survey from Boise State finds that 70% of Idahoans think the state should adopt an English Only policy. Support was even higher in North Idaho where there are comparatively few non-English speakers. This is a symptom of the anti-immigration hysteria that has been whipped up for the past few years. Isn’t English-only just the latest extension of the signs that used to say “for whites only”?
"I don't know what's more painful: taking a pay cut, or taking a pay cut and that still being a story," Jeff Malmen told the AP. Malmen, Otter’s Chief of Staff, was complaining about the criticism he has received for making a salary that is about 2 ½ times the median income for all Idahoans. Waah! His $120,000 salary is the highest in the Governor’s officeactually $15,000 more than our millionaire governor will make this year. As Otter’s Congressional Chief, Malmen was making over $150,000 so, you get the idea, he’s doing us a favor by taking a pay cut. The AP also reported that Malmen’s pay package did not sit too well with some legislators. "Wouldn't it be nice if the rest of the state managers had the ability to reward the best people with the pay that's required?" said Sen. Kate Kelly, D-Boise, a member of the compensation committee.
. The Committee on Employee Compensation (CEC) met this week to decide the pay package for state employees. The budget Otter unveiled last week includes $70.4 million to give state employees, including teachers, a 5% raise. But Otter did not propose any increase to pay for insurance premiums, which a state official said could rise by 5 to 13 percent in the fiscal year beginning July 1. Sen. John Andreason, R-Boise, compensation committee co-chairman, said most or all of the 5 percent pay boost that's been proposed by Otter would be eaten up by inflation and health-care cost increases. Andreason has been shooting for a 5.8% increase to begin a ten year process of catching up with private sector workers in comparable positions.
. Ever own one of those cars that you bought cheap but little by little it costs you a lot$100 here, $500 there and pretty soon we’re talking some real money. Now imagine that your income is $5.15 an hour, the current minimum wage, or about $10,500 a year. You’d be eligible for Food Stampsthat is unless you had a reliable car worth over $4,650. Right now having that car would exclude you from Food Stamps. Not having that well running car might mean losing a job in many places in Idaho. This week the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and a subcommittee of the House committee approved an administrative rule that would allow households to exclude the value of one car. Welcome to the real world, Idaho!
. At the end of the presentation to JFAC by the Division of Welfare Friday, a legislator asked what it meant that Idaho is the “8th hungriest state in the country.” After a lame response from the Division Director, Russ Barron, Finance Committee Chair Dean Cameron turned the discussion into a joke. “You know, it really depends who you measure. I’m hungry all the time.” The national ranking is based on whether families involuntarily go without meals, use food banks or other services to supplement monthly meals and so on. It is no joke when children and their parents go hungry.
The Senate and the House approved new math and science requirements for high school students this week with few dissenters. The new requirements will take effect for those students graduating from high school in 2013today’s 6th graders. Students will be required to take at least 3 years of math including Algebra I and Geometry. Currently only 2 years of math and science is required. It will cost about $1.5 million to begin implementation of the program and $11 or 12 million as the 2013 deadline approaches. Opposition last year centered on whether students would be squeezed out of electives like art and music. This proposal allows for greater student choice.
. Brad Foltman, Director of the Division of Financial Management, explaining his new boss’ budgeting philosophy. From the Lewiston Tribune: “It boils down to letting, or forcing, people to make choices. When people must stretch their own dollars, they make good choices. Those good choices will be good for taxpayers. ‘You need to take more personal responsibility for yourself and rely less on a government providing a service for you,’ Foltman said.” This language has been used extensively in describing welfare reform; now it is being used to describe the reduction of benefits for public employees.
. Senator Shawn Keough from Sandpoint talked about the increase in women Senators when she addressed participants at the Idaho Non-profit Development Center’s conference on Wednesday. There are now 7 women in the State Senate out of 35, which is more than we’ve had in several years and sadly, more than there are in most legislatures nationwide.
. The Governor has appointed Steve Kren of Nampa to replace Bill Deal, who is now heading the Department of Insurance. Kren is an electrical contractor and the son of a Nampa City Councilman. Kren was originally recruited by recently retired representative Dolores Crow to take her seat 2 years ago. Then Crow decided to run herself. Now Crow is endorsing Kren for the position. “He’s a person who has proved himself to the party and didn’t come into the party just to run like some Johnny-come-latelies,” Crow said, referring to Scott MacDonald and Jim Barnes, who were also up for the appointment.
. Year after year the Legislature tries to reduce the public benefits available to students. Proposed rules presented this week would cut student eligibility for the Idaho Child Care Program to two years rather than four. And why? One legislator suggested that those students should have waited until after they graduated to have children! Students seeking child care assistance would also be required to work at least 10 hours a week. Pocatello Senator Dianne Bilyeu questioned a study cited by Health and Welfare that suggested that low income students did better when they worked. “If that were true don’t you think higher income students would do better as well?” The Department’s spokeperson said his study didn’t cover that. In a state that ranks near the bottom for college enrollment, wouldn’t you think we’d make it easiernot harderfor non-traditional students to go to school?
Idaho families face the real possibility that state funding of the low income energy assistance program will not be available next year since it is not included in the Governor’s budget. Last year’s increase helped pay power bills for about 34,000 families.
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