Weeks 3-4 - 2024 Session
Another two weeks have passed since my last update, and it has been eventful in the statehouse. We had some big wins, and education continues to be a hot topic. I also held a town hall and met with many people from across Idaho, including some folks from our direct care workforce. Below is my bi-weekly update:
Our public schools are on the line.
There are a few bills moving forward that will disadvantage and defund our already struggling public schools.
School vouchers
A group of legislators introduced what they called the “Parental Choice Tax Credit." This school voucher bill will provide $5,000 to families to send their kids to private schools. At a time when our schools are in desperate need of funding for repairs and maintenance, we cannot afford to siphon $50 million of taxpayer dollars into this project. In addition, in other states where voucher schemes have been created, costs have quickly blown out of proportion, while a large majority of vouchers go to wealthier families who are already sending their kids to private schools.
Further, vouchers disadvantage rural areas, where 70% of our public schools are. I don't believe families in Ammon should subsidize tax credits for wealthy families to send their kids to private schools in more urban areas. Hopefully, this bill dies in committee, and I will work against voucher schemes.
Guns in schools
Last week, the House passed a bill that would force schools to allow anyone who passes a minimal set of requirements to concealed carry in classrooms. Our laws already allow for school districts to have faculty to concealed carry, but the key word is, "allow." Many school districts in our state already have their own programs and requirements for teachers and school employees to be armed, but they have a far more rigorous set of training requirements and standards than this bill prescribes.
This would force school districts, even in communities with neither the need nor desire, to allow any staff member, contractor, volunteer, etc. to concealed carry. It takes all discretion away from local communities. We did our best to oppose it in the House, but ultimately the bill passed. With the NRA backing the bill and so much out-of-state money and power behind it, most members of the supermajority were unable to find the courage to vote against it despite publicly airing their many serious concerns and opposition from the sheriffs and other law enforcement groups.
We had a few wins last week!
We were able to make some good changes to our budgeting process, advance access to contraception, and protect Medicaid Expansion last week.
Changes to our budgeting process
A bi-partisan group of members in JFAC were able to pass new budgets through the committee which will include vital components of agency budgets, including staffing, and other important initiatives like Idaho Launch. It was discovered that the first round of “maintenance” budgets were not truly basic bare bones budgets, and were missing pieces to even keep the lights on in some cases. In addition, they did not include the required CEC (employee compensation). Better transparency is good, but if a maintenance budget is not truly a maintenance budget, that could have dire consequences to the functioning of state agencies.
Access to Contraception
The Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee voted to send Senator Wintrow’s contraception supply expansion bill to the Senate floor. The bill would make it so that women who are prescribed daily contraception could receive a six month supply. Currently, women are limited to receiving only a three month supply at their pharmacy. This is a simple but important change for the women of our state. Idahoan women are doing so much and often have so much on their plate that finding time to pick up their medication every three months can be a major inconvenience and a needless one. This is especially true for women living in rural Idaho when their nearest pharmacy could be an hour away and only open during work hours. We are hopeful this bill will pass on the Senate floor, and we will work to make it happen. Stay tuned for more updates because our work is far from over.
Medicaid Expansion
The House Health and Welfare Committee voted on a bill that would essentially have killed Medicaid Expansion. The bill’s sponsor and supporters claimed that it merely put new requirements on Medicaid Expansion, but reading the fine print showed that many of the requirements were poison pills that would completely destroy the Medicaid program within only a couple of years. This was nothing more than a not-so-subtle attempt to kill the program without openly saying it.
Medicaid Expansion came into being after over 60% of voters voted to establish it, and now polling suggests that support has jumped to 70%. Fortunately, after hours of heartfelt testimony from Idahoans, the committee voted not to send the House floor. For now, Medicaid Expansion is safe!
Read more about the JFAC issue here
I support our direct care workforce.
While Medicaid has been a very helpful resource, Idaho has set low reimbursement rates for many providers, including the direct care workforce. I met with Mentor Idaho, a group that provides direct care to Idahoans with developmental disabilities across the state. They are experiencing a serious workforce shortage and are rightfully concerned about their ability to provide adequate care to people with serious developmental disabilities in our state. With a Medicaid reimbursement rate of $14, no one can afford to live and provide for their own families - even if direct care is their passion. I will continue to support our direct care workforce and other health care providers who need adequate pay.
Read more about our direct care workforce shortage
Our town hall was packed!
Representatives Galaviz, Nash and I held our first town hall last week. It was a packed house! It was a pleasure to speak with many District 16 residents about what matters most to them this session and hear about their commitment to staying involved. I'm lucky to live in such a wonderful district, and to have such great seatmates.
Make sure to join us at our next town hall:
Date: Wednesday, February 28th
Time: 6:30-7:30pm
Location: City Hall, Garden City
RSVP here
There are many challenges that face us in the session, but there is much opportunity to do good and I look forward to keeping you posted on my efforts.
In service,
-Ali
