Legislative Update-- Josh Wheeler

Bills really started moving this week. A lot of that stems from the fact that the deadline for introducing new bills is Feb 10th.

There is always a great energy when the folks from the Realtor’s association are in town, and I was grateful to visit with several hard working folks from Lava, Idaho Falls, and other areas in the state. Later in the week, it was excellent to know that the representative from the Mining Association were in the area, advocating for some of the great work that’s done in district 35. 

The longest debate on a bill this week was over the bill that provides a voucher in the form of a tax credit for parents to send their children to public school. The governor has stated that he will support such a bill, should it have appropriate accountability and transparency. I was impressed to hear some of my colleagues caution again express concerns about wealth redistribution, interference with home schooling efforts, and inconsistency. I’m grateful for the ongoing process here in the statehouse to address this issue in a uniquely Idaho way. 

The Health & Welfare committee is spending time digging even deeper into Medicaid expansion, looking at reducing fraud and waste in the SNAP, and on to bills dealing with the yellow dot program, trimming up unused or redundant code related to the department of Health & Welfare, and the 340b program again.

It continues to be a grand privilege to serve all of you in this capacity. Thanks to the people of district 35, and thank all of you for your support.