Dear Idaho Neighbor,

The number of significant, difficult and challenging issues before the Legislature this session is unlike any previous session where I have served.  Those of you who wrote letters, visited my office, testified in committee hearings and participated in the governmental process in any way have had a powerful influence on our deliberations.

I am grateful for your interest and input, as well as your dedication to our shared principles.  Your voice has been important in the decisions we’ve made for the future of our state.  When my Senate colleagues elected me to also serve as the Majority Caucus Chairman, it gave me the opportunity to provide the people of Canyon County with an even more unique and powerful voice in every area of public policy. It has been a great honor to serve you and to work on some of the key legislative issues that will help us create a brighter future for Idaho.  I thought you would appreciate the latest information on several key issues in which many of you have expressed an interest.

Jobs
Many of you told me jobs that were your top priority. I listened. Working with Governor Otter, I sponsored his job creation bill in the Senate. The “Hire One Act” offers incentives to employers to hire new employees.   We need to get our citizens back to work, and this legislation will be a great help to our employers as we continue to strengthen our economy.

You are well aware of my commitment to your safety as you travel our highways.  As a senior member of the Senate Transportation Committee, I’ve helped improve our state’s transportation system.  Construction on I-84 continues at a record pace, and the GARVEE bonding program has created an additional 2000 construction jobs on top of the 15,000 jobs created since GARVEE was launched.

Education Reform
The Education Reform legislation was undoubtedly a central issue for the 2011 session.  Hearing from students, educators, parents and school patrons speaking out on both sides of this reform was valuable and helpful to me.  The resulting legislation was a comprehensive education reform package which addressed both the need to balance the state budget in very lean times while maintaining and even improving the quality of public education.  I am eager to see Idaho’s finest teachers rewarded and protected for their continued hard work and dedication to Idaho students.

Gang Laws
Your safety is one of my top priorities.  As a result, I sponsored Senate Bill 1179, which strengthened Idaho’s gang law. The statute has been expanded to include crimes committed in prisons, such as riots.  Sexual abuse, human trafficking and street crimes, such as graffiti, could also be prosecuted under the legislation.  As the original sponsor of that law, my work with our prosecutors and police has paid off in high profile arrests and making the streets of Canyon County much safer.

Standard & Poor’s Rating
One of the nation’s leading financial rating agencies just released a report highlighting the work of your Idaho Legislature.  Citing Idaho as an economic leader in recovering from the current recession, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services recently raised Idaho’s credit rating from an already strong ‘AA’ to ‘AA+.’  They reported that our state’s “reputation for a low cost of doing business” positions it to create jobs as “the economic recovery gains momentum.” Standard & Poor’s also praised Idaho’s commitment to public education while still making the needed cuts elsewhere in its budget: “We consider the state to have made timely expenditure reductions in most program areas as revenues plunged, while trying to minimize the scope of K-12 cuts, which traditionally make up about half of general fund expenditures.”

It is a privilege and honor to represent you and our great state in the Idaho State Senate.  Your perspective is tremendously important to me.  Many thanks to those who contacted me during the legislative session.  Please let me hear from you via email at jmcgee@senate.idaho.gov or check out my website at www.McGeeforIdaho.com.  Thank you so much for your continued friendship and support.

Sincerely,

JOHN MCGEE
Idaho State Senator

Dear Neighbor,

Consistent conservative leadership during this year’s legislative session and over the past decade is setting up Idaho for being an economic leader in recovering from the current recession. But you don’t have to take my word for it.

This week Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services raised the State of Idaho’s issuer credit rating from an already strong ‘AA’ to ‘AA+.’ They stated this was based on three factors:

• “Strong economic growth during the past decade relative the U.S. as a whole and retrenchment that was comparatively mild during the recent recession;”
• “Practice of building up reserves in the general fund and ‘rainy day’ funds during the most recent economic expansion;” and
• “Constitutional prohibition on long-term general obligation debt and low debt ratios.”

Further the report went on to emphasize that Idaho’s “reputation for a low cost of doing business” positions it to create jobs as “the economic recovery gains momentum.”

Standard & Poor’s also praised Idaho’s commitment to public education while still making the needed cuts elsewhere in its budget. “We consider the state to have made timely expenditure reductions in most program areas as revenues plunged, while trying to minimize the scope of K-12 cuts, which traditionally make up about half of general fund expenditures,” they wrote.

This year’s proposed education budget continues that legacy as members of the legislature worked successfully to find millions more in additional funding for Idaho’s public schools without raising taxes. This greatly reduced the anticipated cuts to K-12 projected earlier this year. Most significantly the budget includes language that will automatically trigger increases in funding for public schools as the economy recovers and revenues improve.

This approach combines the realism of the current recession with the optimism of a larger recovery this year. I am hopeful that this trigger could put millions more into our public schools as Idahoans again find work. In the meantime I will continue to work to create pro-business policies that will create jobs and place Idaho as a leader in recovering from this recession.

Sincerely,

JOHN MCGEE
Idaho State Senator

Senate Bill 1058, though it may not be the most glamorous piece of legislation, is important to the City of Greenleaf and other small communities throughout Idaho. Governor Butch Otter signed this bill into law on March 9, 2011.

Senate Notes Archive