Democrats held a press conference Wednesday to reiterate their concerns about the state budget and other controversial legislation approved by the Legislature.

Senate Minority Leader Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, said that while Republicans received the most votes last November, they have silenced the majority in passing changes to public schools and cuts to Medicaid. He blamed it on a conservative offshoot of the GOP, which has dominated legislative action this session, including on the budget.

Malepeai called the session physically and emotionally draining. When asked, he said he couldn’t think of much good that had been accomplished.

Assistant Minority Leader Les Bock, D-Boise, said conservatives have radicalized state government.

Bock said matters could get worse if Republicans close their primary elections, which legislation working through the Legislature could allow parties to do. Bock said Democrats should have stronger campaigns in 2012, due to some of the actions taken by Republicans this year.

Malepeai and other Democrats say they’d invite GOP senators to join them in working on legislation next year.

After hearing about the Democrats’ comments, Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho, said he didn’t think it was the worst session in memory. “I would describe it as a difficult session among some of the worst economic times in memory,” Davis said on the Senate floor. “I encourage all of us, myself included, to steer clear of ad hominem attacks or political hyperbole. That is the Washington, D.C., model. It is broken. It doesn’t work.”

Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, the GOP’s caucus chair, said he thinks Republicans have done the job they were elected to do. “We’re doing what our Idaho constituents are asking us to do, and that is to have a very fiscally conservative approach to governing the state.”

McGee also said that if Republicans had listened to Democrats for the past few years, they’d have huge deficits and spent down their reserves too early, which would lead to draconian cuts and tax increases. “While other states are increasing taxes, like the Democrats wanted us to do, we held the line,” he said.

Davis and other senators are expecting the Senate to adjourn Thursday. Republicans could hold their post-session news conference as early as Friday.

House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, announced Monday that the minority party will let just the titles of legislation be read aloud on the floor, which is the normal practice. Democrats had been requiring full reading in an effort to get a print hearing on legislation to raise the cigarette tax and create a statewide referendum asking voters if they approve of education reforms backed by state schools superintendent Tom Luna.

“We will protest loud and long … the actions of the Legislature and the radical changes that have been made,” Rusche said during a news conference Monday. He accused Republicans of not listening to the public on the school reforms and tobacco tax, but said the best course of action now is to finish the legislative session. “Let’s get out of town before they can do any more harm.”

Many lawmakers are saying the session could end by this Friday, April 8. “It is hopefully the last several days of the legislative session,” Sen. Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said at the beginning of the Senate session Monday.

Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, said that lawmakers tied the 10th longest session in state history Monday. Two years ago, lawmakers were in session for 117 days, while in 2003 the legislative session lasted 118 days.

Democrats are holding an informal hearing Monday afternoon on increasing the tobacco tax. The House sponsor of the measure, House Revenue and Taxation Committee Chairman Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, has said he won’t hold a full hearing on the measure. Rusche said raising the tobacco tax could discourage smoking and bring in additional revenue, potent

During the Democrats’ news conference, Rep. Brian Cronin, D-Boise, said Democrats shouldn’t be accused of wasting time since Republicans wasted hours and days on legislation he characterized as grandstanding, which included plans to nullify federal health care laws, allow guns on college campuses, and repealing the 17th Amendment.

“The reason we are still here today, the 85th day of the legislativesession, is because the Republicans don’t want the shenanigans to end,” Cronin said.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, would prevent any discretionary provisions within the PPACA from being enacted in the Gem State.  The legislation defines discretionary as programs that could be implemented prior to July 1, 2012.

The measure passed the House on a 50-17 vote. GOP Reps. Tom Trail, Moscow, Leon Smith, Twin Falls, and Fred Wood, Burley, joined all 13 House Democrats in opposing the measure.

The measure would prevent state agencies from entering into agreements with the federal government stemming from the PPACA. Agencies would also not be allowed to accept federal money from health reforms. State departments could still implement parts of the PPACA if they show that it is required by the act.

The new measure does not challenge the authority or legality of the PPACA.

The bill would also give legal protection to Idaho employers and says that they have the option to offer health insurance to employees.

Rep. Phylis King, D-Boise, said the state should move forward with implementation of health reform provisions.  “This is the law of the land,” said King.  “We should move forward. We can’t deny this.” King said the PPACA offers many benefits to Gem State citizens.

There was no debate in favor of the bill, likely due to Democrats using procedural maneuvers to force some bills to be read at length on the House floor Wednesday.  Democrats are unhappy the GOP majority will not allow hearings on two bills, including one to hike the state’s cigarette tax.

This is the second bill of its kind.  An earlier version cleared the House, but members of the Senate State Affairs Committee killed the measure upon concerns that it might not be constitutional.  There is no firm indication of how the new measure will fare in the Senate this time, but Republican Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis of Idaho Falls says he supports the new version.

Note: Wayne Hoffman, head of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, helped craft this legislation. IdahoReporter.com is published by the Idaho Freedom Foundation.

Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, said the new voter registration and primary election system isn’t a true closed primary system, because political party leaders could allow independents to cast a vote in their primaries.

Under the new plan, voters would declare their party affiliation when they vote in the 2012 primary or when they register to vote. People who don’t pick a party could only vote in a partisan primary if the political party chair allows them. Party chairs could also let voters from other political parties vote in their primary, if they wish. Voters could change parties in subsequent primaries, though that would need to happen more than two months before a primary.

The legislation follows a federal court ruling earlier this month that struck down the state’s open primary system, in which voters don’t register by party and can pick any party’s ballot when going to the polls during the May primary.

Secretary of State Ben Ysursa, who supported the old open primary, said Idaho’s primary participation is abysmal and called the closed primaries a major change. He also said he hoped the change wouldn’t lead to a drop in voter participation.

The Idaho Republican Party brought that lawsuit against the state and supports the new legislation. Party chairman Norm Semanko said the party would welcome independents, though current state party rules say only Republicans registered with the party before the primary election date can vote in the party’s primary.

Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Larry Grant, who also supports open primaries, told lawmakers the closed primary issue is a Republican intramural fight. He also called the new primary system too complicated and said it could lead to more lawsuits.

“I simply urge you to make it as simple as possible, and make it as easy as possible for people to vote,” Grant told lawmakers.

Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said he thinks the new primary system is simple. He also said the early deadline for switching parties allows parties to prevent “known political operatives” from crossing over to vote.

Davis also asked Grant whether the new primary system could allow Democrats to stop holding a closed caucus for its presidential primary. Grant said Democratic National Committee rules require Idaho to hold a caucus as long as the party has an open primary that allows independents to potentially get a Democratic ballot.

The legislation passed the Senate State Affairs Committee on a party-line vote, with Democrats in opposition. Senate Minority Leader Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, said he’s concerned because voters’ party preference could become public knowledge, which could be problematic for voters who side with a minority party.

“This is a very very private thing amongst a lot of people,” Malepeai said. He also said the new primary system is too doggone complex. “Making this more complex and having to declare party affiliation is going to be a deterrent to voter participation.”

Davis said the full Senate is scheduled to vote on the legislation Thursday afternoon. He said the legislation isn’t being rushed, because plans for a closed primary have been discussed at the Statehouse for years.

Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, who sponsored the legislation, said the reform effort is needed given the drop in school funding. “If we want education to improve, we have to be willing to do things differently,” Goedde said. “If we only cut more and hope our students do well, we have failed them. Hope is not strategy, action is.”

The legislation is a policy plan, but it affects funding for public schools. It would target $13 million a year for classroom technology and training for teachers and roll out a program to give all high school students laptops or similar computing devices by the fall of 2015. That spending would be paid for by salary reductions in state funding for teachers and other school staff that would be set for the next five years.

The bill also would give school districts more flexibility to reduce staff by easing the “use it or lose it” provision that requires districts to hire a certain number of teachers to get all its state funding. It would also create a 27-member task force to study online classes for high school students and other technology issues.

Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, was the most prominent lawmakers to switch sides, opposing the legislation after backing the first two parts of Luna’s plan. Davis said there’s a lot to like, but opposed funding the reforms by reducing the pool of money for educators’ salaries. He said lawmakers should find other sources of money than salaries to fund the proposed new programs.

The salary-based apportionment for staff would go down by an increasing percentage over the next few years. Goedde said that’s necessary to make sure there’s funding for technology, though lawmakers would get to write a new budget for public schools every year.

“We’re committing a very fundamental part of our funding for this plan, and it needs to be a part of our policy,” Goedde said.

Some of the most pointed criticism came from Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, who is one of the leaders of legislative budget writers. Cameron listed nine reasons why he opposed the plan, including provisions that could tie the hands of lawmakers writing the budget and creating new entitlements that would obligate state money to high school students.

“I believe this is the wrong product, the wrong approach,” Cameron said. “It’s wrong for Idaho and it’s wrong for the taxpayer. It’s wrong for education and, most importantly, it’s wrong for our children.”

Cameron also said the legislation could lead to consolidation of school districts, saying it’s not part of the bill but it is part of the plan. Luna’s spokeswoman, Melissa McGrath, said the superintendent has made it clear for months that consolidating districts isn’t part of the legislative package.

The bill, Senate Bill 1184, replaces an earlier version of the plan, Senate Bill 1113. Supporters say the new version includes changes suggested by critics, scrapping a requirement to take online classes and a provision that would raise class sizes and eliminate teaching jobs. Lawmakers opposing the plan say those ideas could still come to pass.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, alleged that those who challenged the basic concepts of the reform package weren’t invited back to discuss altering the legislation. Sen. John Tippets, R-Montpelier, rejected Keough’s claim. He voted against the first two parts of Luna’s reforms, but, after discussions, ended up supporting the plan.

All seven Senate Democrats opposed the plan. Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, said the reduction in salaries would be used to pay for merit pay bonuses for educators in another part of Luna’s reform plan, which didn’t make sense. LeFavour also wrote on her blog that she plans to collect signatures to repeal the legislation, if they become law.

In addition to the teaching bonuses, Luna’s Students Come First plan also changes labor relations between teachers’ unions and districts, reducing unions’ bargaining powers.

Senate Bill 1184 now heads to the House for consideration. Now that it has passed the Senate, Cameron and other budget writers can set spending for public schools, which makes up more than half of the state’s general fund budget. Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, who co-chairs the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee with Cameron, said the committee is planning to meet on Monday, March 28.

Four-year public universities and colleges would see a $7.6 million drop in state general fund dollars, while community colleges would receive a reduction of slightly less than $1 million. Both reductions are larger than 3 percent. Higher education would receive $232 million in the next state budget.

“It is a significant decrease and has been substantially decreased over the years, but this is what it takes to have a balanced budget,” Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, said about the reduction to colleges and universities.

Democrats argued that the reductions could lead to higher increases in tuition, which could limit access to learning and retraining for college students.

“Once more, our students will be paying more in tuition and fees, which really means fewer people can attend and fewer people that are unemployed can be retrained,” said Sen. Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello.

Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, said universities and colleges have taken a bigger hit than other budget items, with a drop of funding of more than 25 percent in the last three years. “It is the economic development engine that we are starving,” Werk said.

Republicans argued that those reductions are tough but necessary, and that Democrats haven’t had to make difficult budgeting decisions.

“The advantage of the minority is that they can demand with money for everything and everyone and not live with the consequences of it,” said Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls. “They get to nip at the heels of the majority. It’s not fun to vote for some of these appropriation bills.”

Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, said Democrats would be honored to set the budget, and have pointed out several areas where the state could enhance revenue. Davis responded to LeFavour that Republicans were elected to be the guardian and watchdog over voters’ pocketbooks.

Officials with Idaho’s three four-year universities were supportive of the budget when it was set by the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, when further cuts were contemplated, although they said it could trigger additional tuition increases. The University of Idaho is asking for an 8.4 percent tuition increase, according to The Argonaut.

Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d’Alene, said Idaho tuition is still one of the best buys in the country, and that much of the added budget is due to demands for better services and facilities by students. He said they deserve to pay for some of that. “They’ve got to have some skin in the game,” Hammond said.

The budgets for higher education now head to the House for consideration.

Idaho has four of the 538 Electoral College votes that decide the winner of presidential elections. Under current state law, the presidential candidate that get the most votes from Idahoans gets all four Electoral College votes. Under the National Popular Vote plan, the votes from Idaho and other states in the compact would go to the candidate who wins the majority of votes in the entire country.

Supporters of the plan say it doesn’t do away with the Electoral College and would give Idaho a stronger role in national presidential campaigns. Laura Broad, a former Republican state representative from Minnesota, told the Senate State Affairs Committee Wednesday that her state and Idaho amount to flyover states during presidential campaigns, since they aren’t battleground swing states that could elect either Republican or Democratic candidates.

“We don’t elect the president of the targeted states,” Broad said. “We should be electing the president of the United States.”

Four presidents were elected without winning the popular vote, most recently President George W. Bush in 2000. Broad said it’s be difficult to replay the 2000 presidential election with the popular vote plan in play, since it would have affected campaign strategy. “Karl Rove would’ve run a different election, and I’m sure Al Gore’s folks would’ve, too,” she said.

Backers of the popular vote plan aren’t asking for a full hearing this year, so the issue is likely on hold until next year. A similar plan last year stalled in a House committee.

The legislation passed the Senate with opposition from Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, and Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls. Davis said he’s debated the issue with Broad several times across the country.

“I’m very worried that Idaho will become lost in the national vote,” Davis told IdahoReporter.com. He said it’d be difficult for Idahoans’ votes to matter, since some counties in other states have more people than all of Idaho. “That troubles me.”

The Electoral College system does increase Idaho’s small voice in voting for president. According to recent census information, Idahoans make up 0.5 percent of the American population, but the state’s four Electoral College votes count for 0.7 percent of the total vote.

The other states that have passed the popular vote plan, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland, and Hawaii, have all voted for Democrats in recent presidential elections. Broad said the close 2000 presidential election spurred those states to sign onto the plan, but the results of the 2008 election have spurred solidly Republican states to consider the issue.

One of the first bills to be discussed at the beginning of the legislative session was Meridan GOP Rep. Marv Hagedorn’s bill to cut the state’s personal and corporate income tax to 4.9 percent, effectively making the rates some of the lowest in the country.  The plan was backed by Gov. Butch Otter in his State of the State address, but has since been put on the back burner.

Hagedorn told IdahoReporter.com that the legislation is almost ready and should be introduced in coming days.  The delay, he explained, was caused by extra work on the plan in order to make sure the numbers worked within future tax revenue projections.  The bill counts on a growing Idaho economy and wouldn’t work if that isn’t in place.  “It appears that our economy is starting to recover and we need that to happen before we can pull the trigger on this,” said Hagedorn.

The proposal would reduce taxes rates incrementally in a 10-year period and new tax surpluses would cover amounts  lost due to lowering of the rates.  Idaho’s top personal tax sits at 7.6 percent, while the highest corporate income tax is 7.8 percent.   If economic recovery is slower than expected, the state could delay the downward march toward a lower tax rate in order to stabilize budget numbers.

Hagedorn believes he has enough support in the House – he says he has signed the majority of representatives on as co-sponsors – and maybe even the Senate.  “I’ve been working with the Senate and I think we’ve got good support over there,” said Hagedorn.  “The majority of senators support the concept.”

He couldn’t give a set date to expect a hearing on the bill, but did say that printing is happening this week.

Early in the session, Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, told IdahoReporter.com that he would bring a bill to prevent state lawmakers from getting huge pension payoffs after long legislative careers by being appointed to state jobs with six-figure salaries. Though days are short, Lake says the bill is on its way.  “We do plan on introducing it,” he said.  “The bill is out there, I just didn’t want to get it buggered up with other legislation, so I held it until the end of the session.”

Another proposal tossed around by Lake prior to the session was a plan to hike the state’s cigarette tax by $1.25.  Though he intended to bring the bill as a mechanism to cut down on smoking rates in the state, he says the measure wasn’t popular with members of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, which is where all tax bills must originate.  “We don’t have the votes to pass it,” said Lake.  “There’s no sense in beating our heads against the wall.”

One bill already introduced but that has yet to receive a formal hearing is a measure to limit what purchases the Idaho Land Board could make.   The panel is tasked with managing state endowment lands and generating money from them, but has been embroiled in controversy since it was reported last year that it had purchased a commercial storage facility.

A bill brought by Rep. John Vande Woude, R-Nampa, would have prohibited the board from buying businesses and most buildings, but the chairman of the panel to which the bill is assigned, the House Resource and Conservation Committee, won’t give the legislation a hearing.  “There’s not a reason to hear it,” said Chairman Bert Stevenson, R-Rupert.

Stevenson wants to have a discussion about the duties of the Land Board, but acknowledges that legislators might be sending mixed messages.  “We tell them to go out and run it like a business,” he explained.  “The first time they go run it like a business, we say ‘you’re out of bounds, you can’t do that.’ We need to get our act together before we start coaching them.”

One proposal that won’t be introduced this year is Priest Lake Republican Rep. Eric Anderson’s bill to challenge federal ownership of Idaho land.  Anderson told IdahoReporter.com in November that he planned to propose legislation that would use state eminent domain power to take federal land in Idaho, as Utah is attempting to do.

That proposal, Anderson said Tuesday, will not come forth in 2011. “The climate is not ripe,” said Anderson.  “It’s not ready yet. It’s one I’d hoped to bring this year.” Anderson said he was too busy with other legislative work to finalize the bill.

Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, won’t propose an Arizona-style immigration reform bill, as he said he planned to do back in July 2010.  Nonini says that he  wants to let the legal challenge over the Arizona law work its way through the courts prior to bringing a similar measure to Idaho.

“In light of what happened with the Arizona bill, and being challenged by the federal court, and parts of it being thrown out, and those kinds of issues, my intent is to wait and see what happens there,” said Nonini. “There’s no sense running something that is going to have the same problem as Arizona’s bill had. The one I was going to run was pretty much a copy of Arizona’s.”

Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said on the floor of the Senate that lawmakers could wrap up their business within two weeks if all the stars align perfectly. House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Eagle, said the April 1 deadline is doable.

House and Senate Republican leaders are meeting frequently to discuss issues that still need to see action before the session ends. Davis calls the list of legislation the going home list, which currently has more than 10 items on it.

Some of the items on the list likely need to pass before the session can end. That includes legislation that would balance the next state budget, including the more than $1 billion budget for public schools, the reductions to Medicaid, and the delaying of the grocery tax credit. Other items on the list are priorities of Gov. Butch Otter, including the last part of the education reforms backed by state schools superintendent Tom Luna and a tax credit for employers that create jobs, which moved forward Monday.

Lawmakers will probably also need to create a new format for primary elections. The state Republican Party won a lawsuit declaring the current open primary system, in which voters don’t need to register for a party, unconstitutional. New legislation has been expected for weeks, but Davis said leaders held their first formal talks on the new primary plan at the end of last week.

Davis said other items on the list are priorities but wouldn’t need to pass both the House and Senate, and could see legislative action to end their progress this session. Such items on the going home list include banning texting while driving, outlawing most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy due to fetal pain, making assisted suicide illegal, raising the tax on tobacco, including on Native American reservations.

The Senate also must confirm several more appointments from the governor, who made a number of appointments earlier this month.

Davis said if lawmakers don’t meet the April 1 deadline, it could be due to the education budget. He said that budget could be set on Wednesday, which would keep lawmakers on schedule. He said delays could push back the end date by a few days.

Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, who chairs the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC), which sets the budget, said he won’t hold a meeting on the budget until the Senate acts on the last part of Luna’s proposed reforms, which could target some school funding for technology improvements and could raise minimum salaries for teachers.

The Senate Education Committee will hear that plan Tuesday. If the committee rejects the plan, Cameron said the budget could be set sooner. If it passes the education committee, JFAC would wait until the Senate vote the plan up or down.

Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, who chairs the education committee and is sponsoring the reform plan, said he expects the hearing to last two hours. He wouldn’t say whether he expects the committee to support the plan.

The old version of the reform legislation passed out of Goedde’s committee on a 5-4 vote, before being pulled back to committee and stalled. One of the two Republicans to vote against the plan, Sen. Mitch Toryanski, R-Boise, said some of his concerns with the earlier legislation, including the mandate that high school students take online classes, the increased class sizes, and questions over the lack of input from education stakeholders, have been addressed in the new version.

Toryanski wouldn’t say whether he’d support the new legislation, but said he’s looking forward to the committee’s debate. Goedde said public testimony won’t be taken on the plan, but the education stakeholders, which include teachers, administrators, school board members, and business leaders, will discuss the legislation.

The gang suppression law was first passed in 2006 and has been used just four times to add time to gang members’ prison terms, but prosecutors say the specter of a longer sentence is a useful tool. It allows for stiffer penalties when prosecutors can prove offenders are gang members and committed their crime as part of gang activity.

Legislation approved without dissent by the Idaho House and set for a full Senate vote would add 11 more crimes to the list of potential criminal activity and raise the maximum added sentence for being convicted of those gang-related crimes from two years to five years. That sentence would be on top of the regular sentence for the offender’s crimes.

“It’s a lot of work to use the enhancement,” said Canyon County Deputy Prosecutor Ellie Somoza, who told a panel of Idaho senators that she’s prosecuted dozens of gang-related crimes, including drive-by shootings. “It should be difficult. There should be a high burden that we would have to prove that someone is a gang member of they committed a crime in furtherance of a gang.”

Sen. Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said the extra sentence could be a hammer for prosecutors when dealing with arrested gang members. Somoza said she’s used it as a tool when creating plea bargains with alleged gang members facing criminal charges.

Canyon County Detective Kieran Donahue told senators that many of the crimes that would be added to the list are common among gangs. He said many of the gang orders in the Treasure Valley come from leaders inside prisons. He also said some sex crimes should be added because they’re becoming part of gang recruitment efforts.

“We’re seeing a lot more of this gang activity where the initiation is sexual acts,” Donahue said.

Sen. Les Bock, D-Boise, supported the legislation but raised questions during the debate about whether prosecutors could abuse the enhanced penalty. After the hearing, Bock told IdahoReporter.com he wanted to make sure the plan had sufficient safeguards to prevent those abuses.

The legislation is backed by Gov. Butch Otter’s Idaho Criminal Justice Commission.

Crimes that would be considered gang activity under the legislation

• Sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16
• Sexual exploitation of a childb
• Lewd conduct with minor child under 16
• Sexual battery of a minor child 16 or 17
• Human trafficking
• Escape or rescue of prisoners
• Riot
• Injuring jails
• Disturbing the peace
• Malicious injury to property
• Injury by graffiti