Saturday, February 28, 2009

Helping Morticians and Barbers?

This week, I was the floor sponsor for House Bills 88 and 89. One might wonder why I carried the bills on behalf of the Board of Morticians (88) and the Board of Barbers (89). I can hear constituents asking: "With all the needs our state is facing, why is Cronin spending time working on legislation for those whose job it is to groom us (in life and in death)?"

The simple answer is practice--having the opportunity to sponsor bills on the House floor that were brought to our committee by folks other than legislators (in this case, the Idaho Bureau of Occupational Licensing).

A committee's chairman, upon a majority of the committee voting to send the bill to the full House with a "do pass" recommendation, will assign this so-called committee bill (which up until that point was sponsored by someone not in the Legislature) to one of the committee members.

I was advised by a former legislator to indicate to my chairman (in this case Rep. Max Black, Chairman of the Business Committee) that I would like to be the floor sponsor for a committee bill. My big break came last week and the committee had a good chuckle over assigning these bills to me. It looked like I might even get a third, on behalf of geologists, but instead the Chairman picked on some of the other freshmen.

On Thursday, I stood up and presented the case to the full House for why morticians in training might be granted, under extenuating circumstances (such as military deployment), an extension beyond the standard two years to complete their internship. The bill passed the House on a 63-0 vote.

I then got up moments later to lay out the reasons for why we should grant inmates the right to give other inmates a haircut without possessing a barber's license. No questions, no debate, and HB89 sailed through on a 63-0 vote.

Yes, there are many jokes to be made (feel free to comment). And no, it's certainly not how I envisioned my life as a legislator. But I have no complaints. With each day I'm learning more about this complex and fascinating process of lawmaking.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Exploding Conservative Myths

The media dutifully feels obliged to give Republicans equal air time these days. Separating fact from fiction, though, doesn't appear to be in the Fourth Estate's job description. Instead, we get he said/she said journalism, where all opinions are granted equal weight, in the interest of "balance."

From Washington, D.C. to the Idaho Statehouse, Republicans are preaching the gospel of fiscal restraint. Really?

Where was the concern six months ago for our children and grandchildren, whom we're going to saddle with debt for eternity, according to the Chicken Littles? How about for the last eight years!!!??? The U.S. Treasury reports that the national debt has grown more than $500 billion each year since fiscal year 2003.

During President Bush's eight hapless years in office, the national debt nearly doubled, to over $10 trillion. Recall the Republicans not only controlled the White House but also Congress during most of that time.

Earlier this week, business columnist Ed Lotterman offered up some more detailed historical analysis on the absurdity of Republicans assuming the mantel of fiscal restraint: "The three most recent Republican presidents oversaw deficits equal to nearly 74 percent of our [total] debt...."

The next time Bobby Jindal and Mark Sanford start prattling on about fiscal responsibility, they should really be required to preface their remarks with, "We recognize that our party has no credibility on such matters, but...."

Every time we're subjected to such hypocritical pablum, voters should be reminded that THE FAILED POLICIES OF GEORGE W. BUSH AND HIS REPUBLICAN CONGRESS ARE WHAT GOT US HERE. Deregulation, a hallmark of conservative philosophy, and lax oversight played a significant role in the collapse of our financial system. Republicans had their chance and they blew it. What the United States needs right now is to invest in its people and its infrastructure and that's what Obama is trying to do.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Disingenuous on the Stimulus

Thanks to Idaho Public Television Statehouse correspondent Thanh Tan for pointing out this Christian Science Monitor story about the Republican renegade Governors who are threatening to reject stimulus money. And guess who features prominently in this story? Idaho's own Butch Otter.

Here's one of the choice quotes from the article:
At the same time, Professor Cross says, “It’s a bit disingenuous to say, ‘Well, we may not take it,’ when in fact we need it desperately.”

In a related story, I found this gem in a quick Google search--a 2007 Reuters story:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost taxpayers a total of $2.4 trillion by 2017 when counting the huge interest costs because combat is being financed with borrowed money, according to a study released on Wednesday.

Let's be clear--Republicans aren't opposed to running up massive deficit spending. They just don't like it when Democrats are in charge.

Friday, February 13, 2009

A breath of fresh air in the Environment Committee


On a day when we saw troubling news come out of the House Education Committee, the Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee made the right call on a key issue for the Treasure Valley on Thursday.

In 2004, Sen. David Langhorst (D-Boise) and Rep. Mark Snodgrass (R-Meridian) joined forces to combat what was a growing problem in our region: deteriorating air quality that posed growing health risks to the public. After countless public meetings, task forces, iterations of bills, and real compromise forged over the course of four years, these two distinguished legislators got the bill passed. This was the critical step needed in recognizing that Canyon County is in the same air shed as Ada County, where vehicle emissions testing is already in place.

H482 gave the DEQ the authority to set up an emissions testing program in air sheds that are approaching federal non-attainment. The Treasure Valley has been dangerously close to non-attainment--it's only due to a confluence of favorable meteorological phenomena and last year's record gas prices that we were able to avert the designation.

Urgent action is needed to avoid the crippling sanctions that will stifle economic development if we fail to meet federal standards and the EPA takes over management of air quality. As I argued today in committee, this is why the region's Chambers of Commerce backed the bill. During a severe economic downturn, the last thing we need is to handicap local businesses by restricting our ability to grow and expand our transportation infrastructure. DEQ Director Toni Hardesty spelled it out clearly for a group of legislators back in December: once we hit non-attainment, the sanctions will go into effect and remain in effect for 20 years, despite whatever efforts we subsequently pursue to address the problem.

Rep. Wendy Jaquet wisely argued that Rep. Harwood (who proposed repeal of H482) should engage in the rulemaking process with the DEQ rather than throwing out the entire piece of legislation. Chairman Dell Raybould reminded the committee that they had heard over two days worth of testimony last year and that many compromises had been made to arrive at the bill that was finally passed.

Six members of the committee--Reps. Elaine Smith (D), Wendy Jaquet (D), Eric Anderson (R), Dell Raybould (R), George Eskridge (R), and I (D!!!) prevailed in a 6-5 vote. Had it gone the other way, we would have been subjected to several days worth of testimony, bunk scientific claims, fear mongering, and denial of a real problem. H482 was a much needed bill; our efforts should now remain focused on implementing measures as quickly as possible, rather than looking to repeal the bill just as it's starting to take effect.

If you believe in clean air and economic development in the Treasure Valley, send a note of thanks to the committee members who rightly rejected the repeal attempt.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Promoting Energy Efficiency & Conservation


This is seemingly good news from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) decision regarding Idaho Power's rate increase request. The Idaho Business Review reports that the PUC has established tiered rates for residential and small commercial customers that provides an incentive for energy conservation. Under the new rate structure, power will be priced at a more expensive rate once you consume beyond a certain threshold. During the summer, when consumption peaks, the rate thresholds remain the same but the rates go up slightly. You get the best rates if you can keep your consumption under 800 kwh per month. Apparently, the average household consumes slightly more than that, at around 1050 kwh/month.

The PUC's ruling also trimmed the overall rate increase that Idaho Power was seeking, from $67 million to $22 million, which seems more reasonable during these hard economic times.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Modernizing Government

For years, hard line conservatives have blasted "runaway" government spending, claiming that government needs to be run more like a business. While I think that principle is founded on faulty logic (the public and private sectors have completely different goals and purposes), I don't discount entirely the notion that government agencies could stand to benefit from some of the strategies, technologies, and management practices that successful companies employ.

I've been encouraged to find that Idaho government agencies seem to be looking for new ways to put services online and to harness the power of online technologies. In a hearing last week in the Business Committee, we heard from Dept. of Insurance Director Bill Deal (a former legislator) that the Department was able to eliminate 1.5 full-time employees (FTEs) thanks to it's online system for processing forms and applications that insurance companies are required to file with the department. In addition, the DOI introduced a rule that our sub-committee recommended we adopt that would charge insurance companies a premium for filing more than a certain number of applications on paper, rather than online.

Similarly, the Department of Finance has a pending rule that was presented to our committee that would enable Idaho mortgage professionals to handle their licensing through an online national service. This, too, creates efficiencies, though I wondered about using both carrot and stick to drive constituents to the less costly and more efficient ways of doing business with the state. I asked the Dept. of Finance representative why there was a clause that allowed people an out if they didn't want to apply online and why the Department wasn't charging a premium (a disincentive) for applying the old-fashioned way. I was told that they didn't think such a disincentive was needed as everyone was currently using the national database but that they might consider it in the future if trends changed.

We're going to hear a lot more about streamlining government in the coming weeks, particularly as the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) comes under scrutiny for its own practices and spending of public dollars. The Office of Performance Evaluation (OPE) recently released the audit that the 2008 Legislature mandated, detailing opportunities for doing more with less through improved project management, better strategic planning, and tools, systems, and processes that the Department currently lacks. But we must not forget the more pressing consideration that this comprehensive study revealed: no amount of cost containment and streamlining of processes can make up for the severe revenue shortfall that ITD perpetually faces. Should the Department address the shortcomings cited in the report? Absolutely. But penny-wise, pound-foolish planning by so-called fiscal conservatives has left us with an untenable situation, whose costs are mounting each year.