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| published Tuesday, April 03, 2007 |
43899 Views
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As the session ended on March 30, a lot was left out, the victim of the spat between the governor and the legislative leaders of his own party...
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| published Friday, March 30, 2007 |
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With little on the House or Senate calendars and little will to compromise, nothing was done on the grocery tax or closed primaries or the effort to shut the revolving door on legislator-lobbyists. Rhetoric and symbols won out over substance. Lots of new legislators promised to come back and finish things—not knowing that once the momentum is gone it may take years before certain ideas get revisited.
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| published Wednesday, March 28, 2007 |
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The veto of the grocery tax credit bill on Tuesday pretty well knocked the wheels off of plans to adjourn on Friday. On Monday and Tuesday each House was dealing with 30 and 40 bills a day. By Wednesday that had slowed to a crawl. Lots of time was spent in caucusing, meeting with the Governor, taking field trips to the City Club, waiting… Decisions may be being made all around us but no one seems to know what they are.
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| published Monday, March 19, 2007 |
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The latest on the skewed priorities of the Legislature...
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| published Saturday, March 17, 2007 |
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“The real practitioners of social change, like Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, understood something very important. They knew that you don’t change a society by merely replacing one wet-fingered politician [those who put their fingers up to see which way the wind is blowing] with another. You change society by changing the wind…Change the wind, transform the debate, recast the discussion, alter the context in which political decisions are being made, and you will change the outcomes.” Jim Wallis, Sojourners
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| published Saturday, March 10, 2007 |
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When it comes to local control, forget about it. When it comes to business tax breaks, "Katie bar the door!" And tax relief for low and moderate income families? Now that’s social engineering. On Wednesday, the House Revenue and Taxation Committee rejected an effort led by Ada and Canyon County elected officials and the business community that would have allowed local residents to vote to tax themselves for public transit if they could get a 2/3 majority on a general or primary election day. Even that high bar was not enough for most of the committee which defeated HB246 11 to 7. Legislators resorted to the last refuge of scoundrels: questioning it to death. I have seen more complicated bills go through with barely a question. No, this is about tax philosophy and Representative Leon Smith, a Twin Falls Republican, had it about right, “We only give lip service to local control.”
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| published Monday, March 05, 2007 |
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Going further out on the ledge, some legislators still don't get it... This is Mike Flinn's interpretation
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| published Saturday, March 03, 2007 |
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That gave a pretty good indication of what kind of week was coming. Before the week was out the Legislature would complete budget setting, pass a major tax cut for business through the House, be deemed the state with the worst day care standards and pass no improvements, bring forward and pass anti-immigrant bills and kill one that would actually help some folks, take up more anti-choice legislation and try to capture the electoral nomination process for the right wing of the Republican process. Drink up.
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| published Monday, February 26, 2007 |
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The poster came to mind Thursday afternoon while I was listening to testimony on House Bill 81 from various anti-hunger advocates. A Boise Methodist minister, talked about the “mercy work” they do as a congregation and how a well structured credit would better get at the structural issues of poverty. HB81, as was pointed out in the Senate Tax committee, was “the winner in the four way beauty contest” to decide how to deal with the issue of sales tax on food. This bill would provide a credit of $50 to all Idahoans under 65 and $70 to seniors.
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| published Tuesday, February 20, 2007 |
45753 Views
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