Legislative Update--Senator Mark Harris

Dear friends and neighbors —

This last weekend, I had the opportunity to visit with some Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel in Caribou County. It was interesting to hear them talk about what they do and the challenges they face. We also got to talk about ambulances and how much they cost. Idaho’s EMS volunteers from around the State are incredibly devoted citizens who love to help people.  

To give an update on EMS legislation, I am pleased to report that House Bill 206 (H206) and House Bill 207 (H207), both dealing with the future of EMS, have passed the House and are on their way to a Senate committee for a hearing. This is great news due in large part because of the devoted work of Representative Mark Sauter of Sandpoint (LD 1) for getting the EMS bills through the House and on to the Senate. Representative Sauter, your hard work is much appreciated!

I attended a press conference this week called by Idaho’s Governor Brad Little that focused on the success of the Idaho Launch Program. This program went into effect last year. Idaho Launch is a grant program for high school seniors who want to go on to college but lack resources to make it happen. The Governor had students speak on how Launch helped them and provided them with the means to attend college that they otherwise would not have been able to do. I have heard this same sentiment during my visits to schools in our Legislative District. In fact, I have heard countless stories of how kids have taken the leap of enrolling in post high school programs because of the opportunity Idaho Launch has provided. Some Idaho community colleges have reported an increase of up to 15% enrollment. I have also heard that enrollment of Idaho’s kids in neighboring states’ colleges has declined as Idaho kids are electing to stay in Idaho and attend Idaho schools. This is what the program was designed to do!

Unfortunately, there is a proposal in the House to get rid of the Idaho Launch Program with nothing to replace all the good it does for Idaho’s kids. This practice seems to be a trend in this year’s proposed legislation where many successful programs are being challenged.  

For instance, there is House Bill 138 (H138), which is a bill designed to get rid of Medicaid Expansion in Idaho with no plan for replacing it. It is currently sitting in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee after passing the House. I do not think the bill will progress further as there is now an alternative that has surfaced. House Bill 328 (H328) has been introduced. This bill gets rid of some of the irresponsible things H138 had in it, such as the cap on recipients and the triggers to eliminated Medicaid in Idaho. The new bill, H328, gives the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare great latitude to control Medicaid costs. However, some provisions in the bill may cause problems for hospitals and doctors by moving to a system of health care managed by insurance companies.  We continue to work on this issue as the Legislative Session continues.  

Finally, the Income Tax Bill and the Grocery Tax Credit Bill are now in the Senate waiting to be debated. A Property Tax Bill has surfaced in the House. This is an interesting situation as we have not yet passed any budget bills this Session. It appears to be a “cart before the horse” scenario. We are beginning to have a better idea of available funds as we start to receive budget bills from the Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee (JFAC). This is a good thing since we are approaching the third month of the Session.

I want to thank you again for giving me the privilege and honor to serve you, the good people of Legislative District 35. I look forward to hearing from you with any questions or concerns. You can email me at [email protected] or call me at 208-332-1308.