NEWS
Idaho elected officials prepare for 2017 legislative session By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff With the 2017 Idaho legislative session due to kick off Jan. 9, Idaho lawmakers will decide how to use an unexpected windfall in tax revenue. In the wake of a projected surplus in tax receipts, Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said legislators will likely be discussing the possibility of tax cuts. However, Keough isn’t as convinced about the wisdom of that course. “My thoughts are that while early reports are promising regarding the pickup in Idaho’s economy and resulting increase in taxes paid, we are only halfway through our fiscal year, and sometimes we get surprised in the second half,” Keough said. “The phrase ‘don’t count your chickens till they hatch’ comes to mind.” According to Keough, the state has other obligations that could use additional funding. Idaho school districts are increasingly reliant on local property owners to cover a portion of education spending through
supplemental levies. Likewise, many of Idaho’s roads, bridges and infrastructure are in serious need of maintenance or replacement. While Keough understands the appeal of keeping more money in the pocketbook, she observed there’s no shortage of state departments that could use a boost. “There are many examples that citizens contact me about that range across state agencies where service delivery is slow because of lack of staff to be more timely,” Keough said. Indeed, dollars and cents will be occupying much of Keough’s time. As the co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, she and other committee members analyze state revenue and weigh department budget requests to balance the state budget. Aside from budgetary issues, Keough said constituent requests will keep her busy in 2017. “Those run the gamut from drivers’ license revocation processes to insurance covering telemedicine similar to in-office care and more,” she said. Rep. Heather Scott,
Idaho charts third-highest growth rate in nation By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff Congratulations, Idaho, you’re moving on up. Idaho economists reported this week that Idaho experienced the third-highest growth rate in the nation between between mid-2015 and mid2016. Only Utah and Nevada beat out the Gem State, with Florida, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, the District of Columbia and Texas trailing behind. It is the state’s highest growth rate since 2008. The Boise Weekly reports that a combination of strong
birth rates and migration helped push Idaho to the top of the list. Idaho charted a birth rate of 13.7 babies per 1,000 women, good enough to rank eighth-highest in the nation. Meanwhile, 13,000 people moved to the state from elsewhere in the nation or abroad. By the end of the measurement period on July 1, Idaho had grown by 30,300 residents to a total population of 1,683,140. Conversely, eight states lost population this year: Mississippi, Wyoming, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, West Virginia and Illinois.
Whitefish residents brace for white nationalist march
By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
R-Blanchard, did not respond to a emailed request for comment by press time. However, in her December newsletter, she said it’s shaping up to be a good session for the conservative, anti-federalist wing of the Idaho Republican Party. “I am happy to say the House of Representatives has added more liberty-minded legislators across the state for the 2017-2018 sessions,” she wrote in her newsletter. “This should strengthen the voice of freedom and hopefully move more legislation in a constitutional, limited government direction.” In the same newsletter, she announced the launch of a website, Growing Freedom for Idaho, where she will outline her goals for the legislative session. Under a website section labeled “Freedom Agenda,” she detailed several objectives under categories like “lower taxes” and “less government.” Repealing the grocery tax and passing a resolution officially declaring Idaho a sovereign state are just two of dozens of goals listed on the website. Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay, did not respond to an emailed request for comment by press time. Residents who wish to keep up with legislative activity or watch sessions through live streaming can easily do so by visiting www.legislature. idaho.gov.
Just across state lines, residents of Whitefish, Mont., are mobilizing against a possible armed demonstration by white nationalists. The small ski town, a familiar setting to any Sandpoint resident, is undergoing its own struggle with racist interlopers harassing minority members of the community. The harassment follows attempts by Whitefish officials to distance the town from Richard Spencer, a part-time resident and increasingly visible leader of the alt-right movement. The harassment campaigns against Whitefish residents, most of them Jewish, and the proposed march are reactions against perceived slights to Spencer’s mother, Sherry. Organized through racist news site The Daily Stormer, the march is proposed for some time in January with claims that more than 200 supporters will be transported in from around the country. Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial said that while skinhead groups have as much a right as anyone to march with the proper permits, he and his staff are prepared to take proper precautions. “When we take an oath, we take an oath to protect all of those people who are within their rights to express their right to free speech in the United States in the state of Montana,” Dial told KPAX. Since the controversy broke,
Top: Attendants at the National Policy Institute’s annual conference give Nazi salutes as NPI head Richard Spencer praises president-elect Donald Trump. YouTube screenshot. Bottom: Richard Spencer addresses his audience. YouTube screenshot.
Montana officials have been vocal in supporting of Whitefish and repudiating white nationalist ideology. In a joint letter from Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D), Sen. Jon Tester (D), Sen. Steve Daines (R), Rep. Ryan Zinke (R) and Attorney General Tim Fox (R), the officials urged Montanans to stand together against hate. “We condemn attacks on our religious freedom manifesting in a group of anti-Semites,” the letter reads. “We stand firmly together to send a clear message that ignorance, hatred and threats of violence are unacceptable and have no place in the town of Whitefish, or in any other community in Montana or across this nation. We say to those few who seek to publicize anti-Semitic views that they shall find no safe haven here.” December 29, 2016 /
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