Twin Falls County Democrats

January newsletter-meeting, pizza and politics, Frank Church weekend

2012-01-13T14:07:00.001-08:00

Twin Falls Democrats

January 2012

I have been holding off for this newsletter, hoping the state supreme court would rule on the lawsuit over redistricting. No such luck.

Twin Falls County Democrats central committee meeting is changing!!! We are going back to the third Wednesday of each month for our meetings.

Our next meeting will be January 18 at 1401 Poplar. Pam Chiarella, who will be a candidate for the legislature in 2012 will be at this meeting if the weather permits. Pam lives in Mountain Home and would be in the eastern Twin Falls district with Elmore county. We will be setting our calendar for the year, and the budget. Please let me know if you plan to attend.

January 24-State of the Union at Rock Creek 200 Addison Ave W. Join us in the banquet room at the Rock Creek Restaurant. We get started at 6:00 pm. There will be hosted appetizers.

February 1-Liberally Drinking at Rock Creek Restaurant.

February 5 Pizza and Politics at Gerties, 602 2^nd Ave S in Twin Falls. We will be meeting in the banquet room from 5:00 pm-7:00. Democratic legislators will be there to take our questions, and give us their outlook on the current legislative session.

February 1-Liberally Living-Speaker-to be determined!

The Frank Church Weekend in Boise. February 24-26. This weekend will be filled with candidate training, with issues training, and meetings for local activists. Friday night begins with a potluck for county delegations and their friends. Saturday, the morning begins with presentations on current issues like education. These activities are free, and open to Democrats.

Saturday evening, February 25 is the Frank Church Banquet. We will put together a table for Twin Falls County Folks. Let me know if you will be attending.

~Gala ~ $65 early-bird tickets on sale through 1/15/12*. ( Tickets prices will increase to $75 on 1/16/12. and to $85 on 2/23/12.)

* This is the state party's pledge fund -D.E.M. Club Members can enjoy our early bird rate through 2/22/12. Click http://idahodems.org/dem/ to learn more about our DEM Club, or to become a member today.

Guest Speaker - John C. Stocks

John C. Stocks, a national leader in the fight to transform America's public schools, is the executive director of the National Education Association (NEA).

The nation's largest union, NEA and its affiliates across the country represent 3.2 million educators from pre-school to university graduate programs.

Read more about Mr. Stocks at http://idahodems.org/?p=1822

Presidential caucus is April 14^th, 2012. Thanks to Etha Carruthers who has volunteered to be caucus chair for Twin Falls county.

At the caucus, we elect representatives to go to the state convention, from the state convention we elect representatives to go to the national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina the week of September 3, 2012.

Outrageinidaho.com links to the news stories about education.

Facebook has pages for Twin Falls County Democrats and Outrage in Idaho. You don't have to be a facebook user to access the pages.

Twin Falls County Democrats are funded by donations from local Democrats. If you are able to make a monthly donation to Twin Falls Democrats, please contact Etha Carruthers at eccharliebrown@hotmail.com.

Education Referendums-
Under Senate Bill 1108, your child's teacher can be fired at any time, for any reason, without a fair hearing. If enrollment declines in the fall, teachers can be laid off weeks after a school year starts. Idaho educators no longer have a say over such issues as class sizes, lesson planning, and classroom health and safety issues. Senate Bill 1108 ends four decades of productive collaboration between teachers and their school districts.

Senate Bill 1110 gives teachers bonus pay for test scores (and for taking hard-to-fill jobs and assuming leadership roles). The Idaho Education Association has agreed to merit pay. Unfortunately, it is a mandate with no funding, amid the third straight year of budget cuts to our schools, and at the same time Tom Luna ordered new spending on classroom technology and online classes. This bill could ultimately mean that one in four Idaho teaching jobs will be lost over the next few years as Tom Luna continues to push his online course and "mobile computing device" mandates.

Senate Bill 1184 essentially trades teachers for technology-computing devices for every 9^th grader. It ties the hands of local school boards, forcing trustees to fund these mandates by increasing class sizes, cutting pay for teachers and other school employees, shortening the school year, eliminating extracurricular activities, or all of the above. And while lawmakers say they're holding the line on taxes, they're really just forcing local school boards to ask Idaho families to dig deeper for our schools.

In 2012 these laws will be on the ballot. A majority of no votes would repeal the bills.

_______________________________________

Deborah Silver

Twin Falls County Democratic Chairwoman

2188 Addison Ave. East

Twin Falls, ID 83301

phone 208-420-1663

_______________________________________

November newsletter

2011-11-15T13:30:00.000-08:00

Twin Falls Democrats

November 2011

Congratulations to Shawn Barigar and Chris Talkington for their election to city council!

No meeting this month. See you December 21 for our Christmas party. Details will follow.

Candidates!

Jimmy Farris has tossed his hat in the ring in the first congressional district to run against Raul Labrador. Learn about him here: http://www.jimmyfarris.com/.

Yes, he is in the first congressional district.

No, we won't be able to vote for him.

Will he fundraise in congressional district 2? Yes, he will.

Will we have a candidate in congressional district 2? I don't know.

Pam Chiarella is planning on running for the state legislature in the district that includes Elmore county. As it currently stands, Twin Falls county from highway 93 west, Filer and Buhl will be in this district. Pam was at our meeting in Sun Valley, and is working with the new county chair in Elmore county. She expressed interest in attending a meeting with us in the spring.

The information she has posted on facebook. "

I am a long time resident of Idaho, having grown up in Elmore and Ada Counties. My family spans several generations in Idaho and I am proud to say that I am a Daughter of the Utah Pioneers. I have that fighting, pioneer spirit! I believe that hard work and integrity is the backbone of this state and the people who live here. I hope to bring that attitude back to government to represent the voice of the people.

So in 2012 - VOTE Pam for Representative Seat B."

Twin Falls County Democrats central committee meeting is changing!!! We are going back to the third Wednesday of each month for our meetings.

A Legislative map has been approved by the new commission. It appears that most of the city of Twin Falls is in one district. It takes most of eastern outskirts of Twin Falls county with Cassia and Power county, and western Twin Falls goes with Elmore county and eastern Owyhee county. Our county commissioners are planning to contest the map. Appeals go directly to the state supreme court. Time is of the essence, as the county clerks all over the state must adjust their precincts, print maps, and get ready for the March filing date.

Here is a link to the map report from the commission:

http://legislature.idaho.gov/redistricting/Reports/L87.pdf

- Here is a link to a Idaho redistricting history by Gary Moncrief of Boise State University.

http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/redistricting/meetings/redistricting_0607_moncrief.pdf

Presidential caucus is April 14^th, 2012.

Outrageinidaho.com links to the news stories about education.

Facebook has pages for Twin Falls County Democrats and Outrage in Idaho. You don't have to be a facebook user to access the pages.

Liberally Living will meet December 7 at 1401 Poplar for our Christmas party! Please bring a dish to share!

Education

Bill Referendums-
Under Senate Bill 1108, your child's teacher can be fired at any time, for any reason, without a fair hearing. If enrollment declines in the fall, teachers can be laid off weeks after a school year starts. Idaho educators no longer have a say over such issues as class sizes, lesson planning, and classroom health and safety issues. Senate Bill 1108 ends four decades of productive collaboration between teachers and their school districts.

In 2012 these laws will be on the ballot. A majority of no votes would repeal the bills.

_______________________________________

Deborah Silver

Twin Falls County Democratic Chairwoman

2188 Addison Ave. East

Twin Falls, ID 83301

phone 208-420-1663

Confidentiality Notice: This communication is intended only for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain privileged and confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, then any use, dissemination or copying of the communication is prohibited.

Fw: October newsletter-8

2011-10-24T10:13:00.001-07:00

Twin Falls Democrats

October 2011

Twin Falls County Democrats central committee meeting is changing!!! We are going back to the third Wednesday of each month for our meetings. Wednesday, October 19^th will be our next meeting. This will be held at 7:00 pm at the home of LeRoy Hayes and Deborah Silver-1401 Poplar. We will not hold a November meeting. This is a general business meeting. We will be discussing the city council candidates, and the recruiting of legislative candidates. You are welcome to attend if you support the Democratic Party. Come and meet like minded people.

Here is a link to the map report from the commission:

http://legislature.idaho.gov/redistricting/Reports/L87.pdf

- Here is a link to a Idaho redistricting history by Gary Moncrief of Boise State University.

http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/redistricting/meetings/redistricting_0607_moncrief.pdf

October 5^th wine tasting for Twin Falls Democrats at the Rock Creek Restaurant was a great success. Thanks to all of you who made it happen-especially Carol and Stan Thomas.

October 29^th in Sun Valley-Blaine County will be hosting a training and regional Democratic meeting. Please mark your calendar now!!!

Christmas Party-December 21st

Presidential caucus is April 14^th, 2012.

Outrageinidaho.com links to the news stories about education.

Facebook has pages for Twin Falls County Democrats and Outrage in Idaho. You don't have to be a facebook user to access the pages.

First Wednesday of each month, Liberally Living meets at 7:00 pm at the Rock Creek Restaurant.

Education

In 2012 these laws will be on the ballot. A majority of no votes would repeal the bills.

_______________________________________

Deborah Silver

Twin Falls County Democratic Chairwoman

2188 Addison Ave. East

Twin Falls, ID 83301

phone 208-420-1663

2011-09-22T11:04:00.001-07:00

Twin Falls Democrats

September 2011

Redistricting hearings

The Commission did not adopt a map. The matter went to the Idaho Supreme Court who said start again and there is an opportunity to defend the 2002 map. A new commission is in the works, and the state party is assembling a team to discuss the 2002 map. The Republicans have already come out and said that the redistricting system is broken and should go back to the legislature. It is interesting to note that all attempts to redistrict have gone to court since the 1960s-including three that the legislature drew up.

Three of ten voters in Twin Falls county vote for Democrats. State wide, thirty-seven percent of Idaho voters voted for President Obama. Yet, only 20% of legislative seats are Democrats. That is why we are grateful to have a commission and have the opportunity to defend Democratic communities of interest.

- Here is a link to a Idaho redistricting history by Gary Moncrief of Boise State University.

http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/redistricting/meetings/redistricting_0607_moncrief.pdf

The Twin Falls County Fair was a great success.

Thanks to all of you who worked in the booth. The CSI and BSU Democrats covered Friday night and all day Saturday. Thanks to Bob and Linda Sojka for going above and beyond. The response was very positive, more so than any year I have worked. And we have many more people who have signed up to be on our mailing list. Thanks to Bob and Barb Powers who have put a beautiful booth together for us. We had a lot of compliments on the appearance of the booth.

Twin Falls County Democrats central committee meeting is September 15^th, River Rock Café at 7:00. Shawn Barigar will be with us after the business meeting.

This is a general business meeting. We will be discussing the city council candidates, and the recruiting of legislative candidates. You are welcome to attend if you support the Democratic Party. Come and meet like minded people. At 8:00, Shawn Barigar, candidate for city council, will be available for meet and greet.

Tell us why you are a Democrat, and win a great prize (to be determined). Twenty-seven words, 9 seconds, 3 ideas. Bob Sojka has the lead in entries.

October 5^th is a wine tasting for Twin Falls Democrats at the Rock Creek Restaurant.

October 28-30^th in Sun Valley.

Blaine County will be hosting a training and regional Democratic meeting. Please mark your calendar now!!!

Presidential caucus is April 14^th, 2012.

Outrageinidaho.com links to the news stories about education.

First Wednesday of each month, Liberally Living meets at 7:00 pm at the Rock Creek Restaurant.

Idaho

In 2012 these laws will be on the ballot. A majority of no votes would repeal the bills.

_______________________________________

Deborah Silver

Twin Falls County Democratic Chairwoman

2188 Addison Ave. East

Twin Falls, ID 83301

phone 208-420-1663

2011-08-03T10:10:00.001-07:00

Twin Falls Democrats

August 2011

Redistricting hearings-It appears that our current legislative districts will undergo change since the proposed maps from both sides show Twin Falls being allied with Jerome rather than Owyhee county. The maps differ how the remaining population will go however. The Democrats favor connecting eastern Twin Falls county with Cassia and Minidoka. The Republicans would like to see western Twin Falls with Gooding and Elmore counties. To be continued...

August 18 at the River Rock Café at 7:00 pm is our next Twin Falls County Democrats central committee meeting. Hot topic will be our fair booth. Fair Week is August 31 to September 5. Please consider volunteering for at least one three hour shift during this week.

Tell us why you are a Democrat, and win a great prize (to be determined). Twenty-seven words, 9 seconds, 3 ideas. Bob Sojka has the lead in entries.

October 28-30^th in Sun Valley, Blaine County will be hosting a training and regional Democratic meeting. Please mark your calendar now!!!

Our Outrage in Idaho Facebook page continues to gain momentum. We have over 250 members now. Outrage will continue to post articles about education from newspapers around the state.

Outrageinidaho.com links to the news stories about education.

First Wednesday of each month, Liberally Living meets at 7:00 pm at the Rock Creek Restaurant.

August 1, 2011 8:52:31 AM PDT

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz's Statement on Debt Deal

Washington, DC - After President Obama's announcement that he and Congressional leaders have arrived at a compromise to raise the debt ceiling and make spending cuts, averting a financial crisis that would have resulted in the United States defaulting on its debt for the first time in history, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued the following statement:

"Today's announcement of a compromise is welcome news. I want to thank President Obama for his tireless leadership on this issue and for his unfailing commitment to do what is right for the country. President Obama and Democratic leaders understood that not raising the debt limit would be absolutely irresponsible, and have been committed from day one to a compromise to lift the cloud of uncertainty facing our country and our economy.

"The President and Democrats' primary focus has been to ensure that we meet our obligations and avoid default while beginning to get our fiscal house in order. This deal accomplishes that. It puts in place a framework for long-term fiscal discipline and it makes a down payment on deficit reduction. The agreement sets the stage for a balanced package that includes revenues.

"But we're not over the hurdle yet. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this compromise and renew their commitment to working to together in a bipartisan fashion to move our country forward."

Talking Points: A Victory for America

· President Obama has announced that bipartisan leaders have come to an agreement that will cut the deficit and avert default a default that would have had catastrophic consequences for the American economy.

· That agreement is a victory for American families because:

o It extends the debt limit to the year 2013, getting rid of the cloud of uncertainty looming over the American economy and guaranteeing that no one can use the possibility of default right now or in the coming months for political gain.

o It will boost global confidence in the American economy by establishing a framework for balanced fiscal discipline in the long term.

o It guarantees that America can meet all its obligations including Americans' monthly Social Security payments, veterans' benefits, and the contracts our government has signed with thousands of businesses across the country.

· Details of the Debt Agreement. President Obama said from the start that any solution to avert default and achieve significant deficit reduction had to have the support of Democrats and Republicans. After working toward an agreement for months, bipartisan members of the House and Senate have come to an agreement that includes:

o A down payment on deficit reduction that includes historic long-term spending reductions, including almost $1 trillion in spending cuts. Those cuts are set out in a way that avoids damaging our economic recovery. They are balanced between domestic and defense spending, and they protect essential initiatives like aid for college students.

o An expedited process to achieve balanced deficit reduction. The agreement establishes a longer term process to achieve another $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction with a committee structure that is going to put everything on the table, including reforms to taxes and entitlements. To stop either side from utilizing procedural tricks that would stop Congress from acting, the recommendations of the committee will get fast track authority, meaning they can't be filibustered or amended.

o Setting the stage for a balanced agreement that includes revenues. American families and an increasing number of Republicans are united in agreement that any deficit reduction deal has to be balanced and must include revenue.

§ Even the Speaker of the House was willing to consider an agreement with $800 billion in revenues, and almost 20 Republican Senators lent their support to the Gang of Six framework, which included more than $2 trillion worth of revenue.

§ If the Committee is not able to achieve meaningful balanced deficit reduction that includes revenue-increasing tax reform for the wealthiest Americans by the end of 2012, President Obama can put his veto pen to work to raise nearly $1 trillion from the wealthiest Americans by vetoing any extension of the Bush tax cuts for the most well-off individuals.

o A demonstrated enforcement method. The enforcement mechanism in the agreement will force cuts that are painful enough to both sides that Congress will have to act. By their nature, enforcement mechanisms should include aspects that neither side supports in order to guarantee action is taken.

§ The enforcement mechanism in this agreement does just that. If Congress doesn't act, then beginning in 2013 there are going to be $1.2 trillion in spending cuts through 2021 50 percent from domestic spending and 50 percent from defense spending.

§ Low income programs such as Medicaid and Social Security and Medicare benefits would be exempt. Cuts to Medicare would be capped and limited to the provider side.

§ The last time such an enforcement method was put to use with 50 percent domestic and 50 percent defense reductions the threat of defense reductions helped spur the bipartisan budget agreement of 1990 under President George H. W. Bush, an agreement that included revenues as well as spending cuts.

o An agreement in keeping with President Obama's commitment to shared sacrifice. This agreement does not accept entitlement reform without giving equal consideration to revenue-increasing tax reform, and it guarantees that low-income and middle class families won't be forced to carry the burden of deficit reduction alone.

· We haven't put this challenge behind us yet. Leaders of both parties are now taking the framework agreement to their caucuses, and bipartisan members of Congress have to vote on this agreement in the next two days.

· If Congress doesn't act, America could default on its obligations for the first time in our history, not because we aren't able to pay our nation's bills, but because we don't have a Triple A political system to match our bond rating.

· Those who say the tough choices included in the framework agreement aren't good enough should know that a default on America's debt would have catastrophic economic consequences and would lead to real hardship for Americans across the country with a tax increase in the form of higher interest rates on Americans' mortgages, car loans, and credit cards as well as delays in payments to America's seniors, the disabled, veterans, and small companies that do business with our federal government.

Idaho

Education

In 2012 these laws will be on the ballot. A majority of no votes would repeal the bills.

_______________________________________

Deborah Silver

Twin Falls County Democratic Chairwoman

2188 Addison Ave. East

Twin Falls, ID 83301

phone 208-420-1663

2011-07-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

Twin Falls Democrats

July, 2011

July meeting and PICNIC

The July meeting/picnic of Twin Falls Democrats will be held July 21 at the home of Dixie and Brad Siegel at 2030 Candlewood Circle. Picnic begins at 6:30. If your last name begins with letters from A-M, please bring a sidedish. If your name begins with N-Z, please bring a dessert. Twin Falls Democrats will provide the main dish and beverages. There will be raffles!!!

Redistricting hearing-Twin Falls Democrats represented our position very well at a hearing before the redistricting commissioners June 29. I will be providing more information concerning submissions to the commissioners in about a week.

Tell us why you are a Democrat, and win a great prize (to be determined). Twenty-seven words, 9 seconds, 3 ideas. Bob Sojka has the lead in entries.

Living Liberally will meet at the Rock Creek Restaurant July 6 at 6:30.

Fair Week is August 31 to September 5. Please consider volunteering for at least one three hour shift during this week.

October 28-30^th in Sun Valley, Blaine County will be hosting a training and regional Democratic meeting. Please mark your calendar now!!!

Our Outrage in Idaho facebook page continues to gain momentum. We have over 250 members now. Outrage will continue to post articles about education from newspapers around the state.

Dylan Stone is converting our outrage inidaho.com page to a full website. The purpose is to provide information for people to use to write letters to the editor and talk to friends and neighbors.

Living Liberally will meet August 3 at the Rock Creek Restaurant at 7:00 pm.

Referenda Talking Points

The referenda on the Luna laws will be on the ballot in 2012. Many people participated in getting the necessary signatures. Some took petitions to neighbors and friends, and others literally stood on sidewalks with signs and let total strangers know that the petitions were available for signature. Our work will continue as we share information with our fellow voters on this continued attack on our teachers and public education.

In 2012 these laws will be on the ballot. A majority of no votes would repeal the bills.

_______________________________________

Deborah Silver

Twin Falls County Democratic Chairwoman

2188 Addison Ave. East

Twin Falls, ID 83301

phone 208-420-1663

Success! Twin Falls Democrats

2011-06-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

Twin Falls Democrats

June, 2011

SUCCESS! More work to come!

The June meeting of Twin Falls Democrats will be held June 16 from 7-9 pm at the River Rock Café (near the mall). We will be discussing candidate recruitment, fair week, summer picnic, and the 2012 caucus.

Tell us why you are a Democrat, and win a great prize (to be determined). Twenty-seven words, 9 seconds, 3 ideas. Bob Sojka has the lead in entries.

Living Liberally will meet at the Rock Creek Restaurant July 6 at 6:30.

Fair Week is August 31 to September 5. Please consider volunteering for at least one three hour shift during this week.

October 28-30^th in Sun Valley, Blaine County will be hosting a training and regional Democratic meeting. Please mark your calendar now!!!

Our Outrage in Idaho facebook page continues to gain momentum. We have over 250 members now. Outrage will continue to post articles about education from newspapers around the state.

Dylan Stone is converting our outrageinidaho.com page to a full website. The purpose is to provide information for people to use to write letters to the editor and talk to friends and neighbors.

Recall and Referendum Talking Points

In 2012 these laws will be on the ballot. A majority of no votes would repeal the bills.
Tom Luna Recall

Recall Tom Luna seeks to return accountable leadership to the office of the Idaho State Superintendent of Public Instruction by removing Tom Luna from elected office. Mr. Luna ran on a pro-education platform consistently reiterating that major reforms were not necessary. Then, to the contrary, he launched a complete overhaul of the Idaho public education system during the 2011 legislative session. Luna disregarded the will and voice of the majority of Idahoans who will be negatively affected by the reforms.

Result of the recall of Tom Luna-the governor appoints a successor. The successor must be a member of the same political party as the recalled officer, and must be selected from a list submitted by a committee of the political party of the recalled officer.

_______________________________________

Deborah Silver

Twin Falls County Democratic Chairwoman

2188 Addison Ave. East

Twin Falls, ID 83301

phone 208-420-1663

2011-05-18T16:01:00.001-07:00

Thursday, May 19

Six pm at the River Rock Cafe (next to the mall).

Refreshments provided.

District 26 Representatives will give us their legislative round up.

Recall and referenda petitions available for signature and for you to carry.

Democratic Central Committee Meeting to Follow

_______________________________________

Deborah Silver

Hayes & Silver CPAs

2188 Addison Ave. East

Twin Falls, ID 83301

phone 208-736-3711; fax 208-733-9386

IRS Circular 230 Disclosure:

Any tax advice included in this written or electronic communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used by a taxpayer, for the purpose of either (i) avoiding any penalties that may be imposed by any governmental taxing authority or agency or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any tax-related matters addressed herein.

2011-04-26T08:41:00.001-07:00

Twin Falls Democrats

April/May 2011

Our April meeting of Twin Falls Democrats will be held at the Silver Hayes home at 1401 Poplar on Thursday April 28 from 7-9 pm. This will be potluck, and it is an opportunity to sign the recall and referendum petitions as well as be trained on carrying them yourselves.

We will set the date for our summer picnic and fall festival.

We hope to meet the new leadership of the CSI Democrats. Dean Lent and his gang of three have done a great job building the organization. Their group has been gathering signatures for the referendum and recall, they have found leadership for the coming year, and the future is bright. Lucky Boise State will see Dean Lent, Michael Gosney, and Alyssa Ihler next year.

Tell us why you are a Democrat, and win a great prize (to be determined). Twenty-seven words, 9 seconds, 3 ideas.

Dixie Siegel, candidate for school board will be at the meeting to tell us how we can help her with her campaign.

Pledge fund-thanks to our newest pledge fund member Brooke Redmond. Thanks also to our once a year pledge fund members, Bob and Linda Sojka, and Glenn and Stephanie Crumrine.

Howard Dean recently attended a Democratic meeting in Worley, Idaho. The CSI Democrats were a part of that meeting, thanks to our help and the help of the state party and Representative Sue Chew.

October 28-30^th in Sun Valley, Blaine County will be hosting a training and regional Democratic meeting. Please mark your calendar now!!! The speakers that are considering this event are truly amazing. I will keep you posted as details are confirmed.

Our Outrage in Idaho facebook page continues to gain momentum. We have over 230 members now. Outrage will continue to post articles from newspapers around the state.

We need help converting our outrage inidaho.com page to a full website. The landing page has served its purpose, we will see if it can be converted to a companion place for the facebook location.

Hats off to the new editor at the Times News Josh Awtry. We are getting a fair shake it seems. People are noticing, some of the editorials have been linked in the Idaho Statesman and northern Idaho publications.

Recall petitions can be signed during the week at Hayes & Silver CPAs at 2188 Addison Ave East from 9 am-4 pm Monday-Thursday.

Tom Luna and his 2011 Post Legislative Tour Meetings- College of Southern Idaho Herrett Center, Twin Falls (Region 4) 8:30-4:00 pm.

Recall and Referendum Talking Points

Bill Referendums-
Under Senate Bill 1108, your child's teacher can be fired at any time, for any reason, without a fair hearing. If enrollment declines in the fall, teachers can be laid off weeks after a school year starts. Idaho educators no longer have a say over such issues as class sizes, lesson planning, and classroom health and safety issues. Senate Bill 1108 ends four decades of productive collaboration between teachers and their school districts.

Senate Bill 1110 gives teachers bonus pay for test scores (and for taking hard-to-fill jobs and assuming leadership roles). Unfortunately, it is a mandate with no funding, amid the third straight year of budget cuts to our schools, and at the same time Tom Luna ordered new spending on classroom technology and online classes. This bill could ultimately mean that one in four Idaho teaching jobs will be lost over the next few years as Tom Luna continues to push his online course and "mobile computing device" mandates.

Senate Bill 1184 ties the hands of local school boards, forcing trustees to fund these mandates by increasing class sizes, cutting pay for teachers and other school employees, shortening the school year, eliminating extracurricular activities, or all of the above. And while lawmakers say they're holding the line on taxes, they're really just forcing local school boards to ask Idaho families to dig deeper for our schools.

Method-158,106 valid signatures must be obtained within 75 days following certification by Attorney General. The secretary of state calls the special election. The majority of the votes cast in the special election must be in favor of the recall and the number of votes in favor must equal or exceed the votes cast at the last general election for that officers.

Referendum-result a majority of no votes would repeal the bills.

Method-47,432 signatures needed within 60 days of the session in which the bills are passed. The Attorney General's certification and title process may eat into the time available. The election date will be November 2012. Simple majority required.

Tom Luna Recall

Recall Tom Luna seeks to return accountable leadership to the office of the Idaho State Superintendent of Public Instruction by removing Tom Luna from elected office. Mr. Luna ran on a pro-education platform consistently reiterating that major reforms were not necessary. Then, to the contrary, he launched a complete overhaul of the Idaho public education system during the 2011 legislative session. Luna disregarded the will and voice of the majority of Idahoans who will be negatively affected by the reforms.

Result of the recall of Tom Luna-the governor appoints a successor. The successor must be a member of the same political party as the recalled officer, and must be selected from a list submitted by a committee of the political party of the recalled officer.

_______________________________________

Deborah Silver

Twin Falls County Democratic Chairwoman

2188 Addison Ave. East

Twin Falls, ID 83301

phone 208-420-1663

2011-03-27T07:18:00.001-07:00

Twin Falls County Democrats

Many of you are asking about referendum versus recall of Luna. Even if Luna were recalled, Gov Otter appoints the successor. Would we be any better off? Recall is extremely difficult.

Advantage of the referendum, the number of signatures required is doable, although the period of time to gather them is limited.

Then, we have time to campaign for the referendum items.

Specifics of Referendum Chapter 18 of Title 34, Idaho Code:

The sponsor has to file a petition with the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State gives it to the Attorney General for Review. The AG has 20days to review and give comments. After getting the comments from the AG, the sponsor has 15 days to decide to file the final version of the petition and the AG has another 10 days to write up or approve the ballot titles, both short and long titles. After that, the petitioner can begin gathering signatures.

The sponsor has 60 from the date of adjournment of the legislature to gather the necessary signatures, which I think is 47,000 or so in this case.

I know that two of the petitions were filed last week and the third should be filed early next week. But until they get the final from the Sec of State we cannot do anything as far as signatures go. Then, because the time is so short, every effort will be made to gather signatures.

If the necessary signatures are gathered, then it will be put on the general election ballot.

Be ready to discuss this with your friends and neighbors. Outrage in Idaho has much of the information you will need. If you are on facebook, please like Outrage in Idaho and make comments. Be aware Outrage is an open forum. We have teaparty members there.

Write letters to the editor. The so called "reform" in Idaho's legislation has related only to funding, not to improving student performance.

Please donate to Twin Falls County Democrats. If you are not a member of our monthly pledge fund, please consider joining it. We will be pushing a media campaign for the referendum and reaching out to all concerned citizens. It will take money to do this effectively.

My first draft of a letter to be sent to the Times News this week is below.

I am outraged.

Leg. Steve Hartgen believes school districts must be "forced to be better managers of their money not put into contract teaching positions they may not need". School districts have already been forced to be better managers, if you mean that by giving them less money they will manage "better". Our legislature has forced them to be better by eroding the education budget's tax base comprised of income tax, property tax, and sales tax. This state is already at or near the bottom funding education, and that was before this last round in the legislature.

About 10 years ago, the legislature lowered the income tax from 8% to 7.8. Over the years, our legislature has granted more and more exemptions to the sales tax-from 11 exemptions to about 88 currently. Meanwhile, they have raised the sales tax rate. Therefore, those who do pay, pay more. Additionally, the legislature shifted funding emphasis from the more stable property tax to highly volatile sales tax.

School districts personnel and school boards are the people who are going to have to make the difficult decision to fire teachers if their attendance drops. The local people serving on school boards and local administrators are the ones who will be looking in the face the person they have just laid off.

The purpose of our schools is to educate. The purpose of these bills is not better education. There were options that our legislators chose to ignore. Go to outrageinidaho.com for a list.

If you want to help school districts, Steve, why don't you give them a crystal ball so they may accurately predict how many students will be in attendance? They may accurately judge what fuel prices will be, and the result of the NCAA finals.

We can do better for our children.

_______________________________________

Deborah Silver

Twin Falls County Democratic Chairwoman

2188 Addison Ave. East

Twin Falls, ID 83301

phone 208-420-1663

2011-03-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

The Republican view of education includes three false assumptions.

1. Idahoans will not support replacing funds cut from education.

2. "Bad teachers" are responsible for "the failure of our educational system".

3. Computers and teachers are interchangeable in promoting educational performance.

Are you outraged?

Remind legislators of their constitutional duty to education.

The Idaho Legislature just stole our teachers' voices and passed another unfunded mandate onto our already struggling school districts.

Are you outraged?

Contact your legislators and let them know education is a team sport.

JFAC has proposed cuts to our school budgets but have raised road and prison budgets. They must realize that if we cut education we will need good roads to transport all of those new prisoners to bigger jails.

Are you outraged?

Let legislators know that there were other solutions.

Tax cheats; an uneven tax structure and "sweetheart deals" handed out by the tax commission have robbed our children of their future.  Idahoans aren't all treated equally in our tax laws.

Are you outraged?

Demand your legislators discuss solutions for our shrinking tax base.

Now is the time to enhance revenue in a way that is shared by all. There are many revenue enhancement bills that have been proposed by legislators on both sides of the aisle. These bills are sitting in the bottom of a drawer somewhere or have already been rejected. Below is a short list of ideas that have been proposed.

•   Stop "sweetheart deals" at the tax commission

•   Fully fund tax commission to collect more outstanding taxes - $2.4 million to hire more auditors could result in $67 million

•   $1.50 increase in fee for those found guilty of breaking a law -$386,800 towards Police Academy costs

•   Furlough for the Grocery Tax Credit for two years - $60 million

•   Remove tax exemption for dyed fuels - $3.5 million towards ITD budget

•   A surcharge for taxable income over $50,000 per year

•   Internet Sales Tax law that would allow us to be at the table as the nation discusses how to best charge and collect these

•   Tobacco retail sellers fee -$200,000

•   Remove sales tax from grocery items, eliminate grocery tax credit, and 7% sales tax which ends after 2 years -$98.9 million

•   Reduce sales tax to 5% and extend sales tax to 9 service categories - $371 million

•   Increase tobacco tax by $1.25 - $51.5 million towards Medicaid for smoking related illness and tobacco cessation

•   Increase tax on beer and/or wine - $26 million

•   Requiring an amount of 0 or greater on the current internet sales tax line on State Tax Returns

•   Temporarily adding three new upper income tax brackets at $50,000, $100,000 & $250,000 for single filers - $58 million

Are you outraged by the lack of commitment to our children? Please start writing and calling your legislators to demand they find additional revenue to add to our education budget.

_______________________________________

Deborah Silver

Hayes & Silver CPAs

2188 Addison Ave. East

Twin Falls, ID 83301

phone 208-736-3711; fax 208-733-9386

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