Join US!

As Idaho moves forward in a phased re-opening of our economy, we know many of us will continue to make staying at home a high priority. Like other community organizations and groups, Blaine County Democrats will continue to keep you informed over email, text and other methods, including Zoom. Even if we aren't gathering in person, we are planning some fun opportunities to be among friends and fellow Dems.

Take a break and join Blaine Dems' trivia nights on Thursday, May 14 and Thursday, May 28. You can bring a team of up to four people!

Click HERE to register.

Sen. Stennett's Newsletter: COVID-19 Resources

Financial Assistance Offered from State/Federal Programs

Senator Risch outlines some of the federal resources at these links:
https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=covid-19-outbreak

https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/information-on-upcoming-direct-financial-help-for-the-american-people-during-covid-19

And Sun Valley Economic Development has information here:
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/SVED-Insider-Special-Newsletter--5.html?soid=1110847617477&aid=tkh0pIyrQwQ

Medicaid

 IDHW is reducing /removing barriers to the provision and receipt of medical care.

 WIC (Women, Infants and Children) and SNAPP (Food Stamp) Benefits IDHW is relaxing inventory requirements that grocery stores must normally meet. 

Unemployment Insurance 

Under the Federal Cares (Coronavirus Aid Relief & Economic Security) Act

Will bring at least $1.25 billion to Idaho to help businesses and individuals.

Rescue Package will direct distribution of $1,200/ individual (up to $75,000/year income), $2,400/joint returns, $500/child delivered (in 3 weeks if direct deposit, longer if check is mailed).

Unemployment benefits are $250-$800/week, depending on state

.Unemployment benefits will be increased an extra $600 per week for up to 4 months, and benefits will run for 39 weeks.

Lending fund for businesses, educational stabilization money for schools and universities.

Unemployment benefits will be paid for the first week of an unemployment insurance claim (referred to as a "waiting week" because benefits are not normally paid for the first week of a claim). Waiving one week waiting period for those eligible makes it easier to seek. An additional 14 days to appeal claims/decisions will be added to the existing 14 days.

Unemployment claimants will be considered "job attached," meaning they are assumed to be able to return to their old jobs when the crisis has passed and will not be required to look for alternative work.

The Cares Act will also relieve employers from having to pay higher unemployment insurance taxes because of benefits paid to their employees.

Businesses who pay a quarterly employment tax, will not be charged when their employees will be laid off due to the virus. Again, an addition 14 days to appeal is added to the current 14-day time period.

These provisions are in effect beginning March 8, 2020. 

Business Dislocation Response

Small businesses and their owners as they generally do not have access to unemployment insurance benefits, and their business resources are often very limited. 

Certain small business services are "essential" in terms of the 21-day stay at home order. 

Small Business Administration loans: website up, funds online. CARES Act has a Paycheck Protection Program and Loan Forgiveness provision, $350 billion

For 100% federally guaranteed loans for 8 weeks of assistance to small businesses, 501c3, and 501c19 non-profit veteran organizations.

Disaster loans have a 3.75% interest for a business loan and 2.75% interest on a non-profit loan. SBA has 30-year amortization loans to keep payments low.

Proprietors, independent contractors, self-employed individuals are also eligible for these loans.

These loans can be forgiven when used for payroll costs, interest on mortgage obligations, rent and utilities.

SBA and non-SBA lenders will be authorized to make these loans, alleviating a lot of bottleneck, including their online portal. This will be expedited and most of the lenders in Idaho are SBA lenders

.If you are going online to apply for a disaster loan, right now you can receive up to $2 million of disaster relief, an economic entry disaster loan. 

Site www.sba.gov/disaster to apply on online portal website http://covid19relief.sba.gov/#/. Once submitted, can track your application at 800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

SBA questions can be directed to regional office 208-334-9004 in Boise, Small Business Development Center at 208-426-3875, Treasure Valley Chapter 208-334-1696, Women's Business Center 208-996-1572.

Resources are free. Beware of scammers. If anyone is charging for services, should be reported to SBA as scammers. Can find information on www.sba.gov/updates and the Idaho Department of Labor website.

New State Income Tax Filing Deadline: June 15, 2020

The Governor would have liked to extend the Idaho income tax filing deadline to the new federal income tax filing deadline of July 15th, but Idaho's current budget year must be in balance on the fiscal year end of June 30th.  This necessitates receiving income tax payments that remain due before the end of the budget period.

Plus $39.3 million is being transferred from the State Tax Relief Fund to the Disaster Emergency account, the maximum under law, for critical needs PPE, test kits, lab supplies, hospital beds, to build extra facilities, and for critical childcare. 

Renter Evictions 

The Administration has found reaching out to large apartment complex owners fairly easy, but smaller operators are more difficult to identify and reach.  The large operators will have access to government loans.  The Governor noted that eviction cases are not a high priority for the courts now, that his Administration has been working with utilities, including cable companies, to keep services in place and that appeals have been made to small and large apartment owners not to evict for nonpayment of rent. The Governor noted that it doesn't make sense to evict right now because it is unlikely an apartment can be re-rented to someone else who can pay rent.   

2020 CensusIt is especially important during this difficult time to participate in the 2020 Census, everyone. An incredible amount of services and infrastructure rely on the Census data which impacts the quality of all our lives. The easiest way to be counted is online at 2020census.gov.

Sincerely,

Michelle

H409 on Property Taxes & School Standards

MAKE CALLS AND SEND EMAILS TODAY to members of the Idaho State House! Tell them this is a bad bill that will cripple cities and counties.

H409, Rep. Mike Moyle’s (R-Star) bill, which creates a property tax budget freeze for the upcoming fiscal year, has moved forward to the House Floor following a vote in the House Revenue and Tax Committee with a “Do Pass” recommendation. City and County services are funded in large party by property tax revenue and the freeze to local budgets will have direct impact to local governments’ ability to deliver services, including emergency services, as noted by Rep. Lauren Necochea (D-Boise). Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane testified against the bill, describing the outsized burden residential property owners are bearing compared to commercial property owners; McGrane said that making changes to the homeowner’s exemption and circuit-breaker property tax break would provide better relief.

And some good news! The Idaho Senate’s Education Committee unanimously approved all of our public school standards for math, science and other subjects, as well as certification and other professional standards for teachers. This reasoned move nullified the House Education Committee’s rejection last week of all the same standards. As Rep. Muffy Davis (D-Hailey) explains in detail in her weekly video update, these standards are administrative rules. The legislature failed to reauthorize all of the state’s administrative rules at the end of the 2019 session, triggering a full review for every rule this session. Luckily, Idaho’s approval for state administrative rules can come from just one legislative body.

The House State Affairs Committee will hear a proposed bill on citizen initiatives, petitions and signature gathering. Stay tuned!

2020 Legislative Session

This past fall, the Idaho legislature created the 2019 Property Tax Working Group, “to study the current property tax structure…develop strategies to provide Idahoans with property tax relief…and answer the concerns over rising property taxes.” Today, the Idaho House Tax and Revenue Committee heard four bills, including one bill to freeze property taxes statewide. Senator Michelle Stennett’s newsletter provides excellent context for this legislative push, including how it could actually end up causing higher taxes at the local level. Likewise, Representative Sally Toone expressed her concerns in today’s Idaho Mountain Express over Governor Little’s proposal to reduce payments to counties that house state prison inmates in their jails because state prisons are full.

The legislature also took action that affects our right to vote this week. House Bill 322 would require all Idaho voters to affiliate with a political party 90 days before the Presidential Primary. Idaho’s upcoming Presidential Primary is March 10 . If the legislation passes later this week or early next, voters will have approximately two weeks to declare their affiliation with a political party. Stay tuned!

Ask Your Legislator

The 2020 Idaho State Legislative session is in full swing and early next month legislators return to the district to update us on the latest developments. Senator Michelle Stennett, Representative Sally Toone and Representative Muffy Davis will speak at two Blaine County locations, as well as other locations in the district, on everything from Medicaid Expansion to public school funding and property taxes. These informal gatherings are excellent opportunities to learn about how you can get involved and what is coming later on in the session.

Bring your questions about your issues of concern!

Schedule of 2020 February Town Hall Meetings

Ketchum, February 7, 6:00-7:30 pm at Ketchum City Hall, 480 E Ave. N

Hailey, February 8, 8:00-9:30 am at Croy St. Exchange, 16 W Croy St.

Shoshone, February 8, 10:30-11:30 am, Lincoln County Community Center, 201 S Beverly St.

Gooding, February 8, 12:15-1:30 pm, Zeppes, 215 Main St.

Hagerman, February 8, 3:00-4:30 pm, Hagerman City Hall, 191 N State St.

Fairfield, February 21, 6:00-7:00 pm, Camas County Senior Center, 129 Willow St.

Keep Families Together!

Immigration and agriculture in Idaho and across the country are inextricably linked. This week, we can support an important bill co-sponsored by Congressman Mike Simpson to address pressing immigration issues related to farm work in Idaho and beyond—and keep families together.

Crafted over 8 months, with input from agricultural groups like the United Farm Workers and Agricultural Workers Coalition, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act has broad bi-partisan support, with 26 U.S. House Democrats and 24 U.S. House Republicans signed on. Hundreds of organizations and businesses support it nationally, 40 of which are in Idaho, including Chobani, Idaho Association of Soil Conservation Districts, and the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

If passed, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act makes possible legal work status for current improperly documented workers and protection from deportation for immediate family members. Agricultural workers would be able to obtain five year visas under a newly created “Certified Agricultural Worker” status. With longer employment history and an additional fee, workers could obtain permanent legal residency through a green card. Learn more…

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed out of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and proponents expect the bill to reach the floor of the U.S. House the week of December 2, 2019.

Idaho’s congressional delegation needs to hear from you this week! Please call all four elected officials to express your support for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.

During your call, simply state your support and ask for each U.S. Rep. or Senator to support the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. The tally of supportive calls can make the difference. Even if you are not asked, be sure to give your name and zip code to show you are an Idaho resident.

Congressman Russ Fulcher
Phone: 202-225-6611

Congressman Mike Simpson
Phone: 202-225-5531

Senator James Risch
Phone: 202-224-2752

Senator Mike Crapo
Phone: 202-224-6142

Photo credit: <a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/travel">Travel photo created by kstudio - www.freepik.com</a>

Take Action Against the Paperwork Penalty!

Your comments are needed to stop the paperwork penalty for Idaho’s Medicaid Expansion. See below! This is a sample comment from Reclaim Idaho, the organization that worked diligently to put Medicaid Expansion on the ballot in 2018. Please use this to make your comment personal. Note that these comments are going to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, not legislators.

“Paperwork Restrictions” – Sample Comment

To:Idaho State Department of Health and Welfare

Idaho’s State Legislature recently passed a law seeking to restrict access to Medicaid Expansion in our state despite the fact that 61-percent of the voters passed a “clean” Medicaid Expansion bill via initiative. I believe the “Sec. 1115 waiver” being sought is flawed for the following reasons:

1.     The purpose of Medicaid Expansion is to provide healthcare access to low-income Idahoans. Many of these people have not seen a doctor in their adult lives. Providing healthcare access to these people is going to make them more productive at work and at home, which will make their communities and our state stronger. Making these working families fill out paperwork on a regular basis puts this objective at risk.

a.    Perhaps personalize this point with a story.

2.     As you well know, the vast majority of people in the “gap” population work. As such, this restriction is not a “work requirement” but rather a paperwork penalty. We saw disastrous results in Arkansas where nearly 18,000 people lost coverage last year because they failed to fill out forms correctly. Nearly 90-percent of those people were still without coverage in early 2019. If you apply those same percentages to Idaho’s working poor, more than 21,000 Idahoans could lose coverage under this penalty for failing to fill out paperwork correctly – or for not knowing about it in the first place – even if they meet the so-called “work requirements” mandated under state law.

3.     Because of this, Idaho’s paperwork restrictions will create a “second gap” of thousands of people who lose healthcare coverage for their failure to submit paperwork correctly/timely. As a result, they will be forced to seek expensive emergency room care. This will only increase costs to Idaho taxpayers, provide inefficient healthcare to recipients, and defeat the whole purpose of expanding Medicaid.

For the reasons set forth above, I would encourage you to deny this restriction to Medicaid Expansion in the State of Idaho. A federal judge has already done so in three states. There is no reason to believe he will do any differently in Idaho’s case. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

_________, Idaho

Legislature Adjourns

Our legislators are headed back home now that the legislative session has come to an end. Advocates and supporters of Idaho’s democratic process scored a victory with the successful veto of SB 1159 and HB 296, the two controversial bills to silence our votes by virtually ending grassroots citizen initiatives. One of the most important aspects of Governor Little’s veto was the legal challenges those bills were sure to face. But Governor Little also indicated some support for additional changes to the rules of our initiative process in his transmittal letter to the Senate. And Representatives in the House brought forward 4 other bills based on SB 1159 and HB 296 in the final hours of the session. These bills were printed in a last-minute push that left citizens out of the process and skirted public hearings—and it showed. The Senate killed the only one of the four bills that passed the House, HB 303, but this issue is not done yet. We will need to watch carefully what the supermajority during the interim and prepare to oppose future efforts to silence our voices.

Although he did veto the anti-initiative bills SB 1159 and HB 296, Governor Little chose not to veto the amended SB 1204, which places costly work requirements and other restrictions on Medicaid Expansion. The Idaho House of Representatives finally followed the Senate’s lead and passed a funding bill for Medicaid Expansion, so despite the work requirements that go against what the people voted for, tens of thousands of Idahoans will have access to health care in January 2020. While the Expansion is moving forward, there are many components of SB 1204 that leave Idaho in murky legal territory—which will likely end up costing taxpayers in court defending this law. A federal judge struck down the legality of work programs in Arkansas and Kentucky; Idaho’s law is similar to Arkansas and Kentucky. When someone fails to comply with work requirements (which can include simply failing to submit paperwork even if they are working), the Idaho law allows the state to kick them off Medicaid or require a co-pay. All of these provisions will likely be tested in the courts at taxpayer expense.

Many other bills passed this session, and both good bills and bad bills failed to see the light of day or move forward far enough to become law. Education, for example, saw some progress with literacy programs and raises to first-year teacher pay, but the legislative kicked the can down the road when it came to fully addressing the funding formula for public schools.