Sen. Melissa Wintrow (D) looks on from left as Rep. Ilana Rubel (D) speaks out, during a press conference, about the lack of progress made so far this legislative session, Tuesday, March 7, 2023.
Rep. Ilana Rubel (D) looks on at right as Sen. Melissa Wintrow (D) speaks out during a press conference about the lack of progress made so far this legislative session on Tuesday, March 7, 2023.
Sen. Melissa Wintrow (D) looks on from left as Rep. Ilana Rubel (D) speaks out, during a press conference, about the lack of progress made so far this legislative session, Tuesday, March 7, 2023.
Rep. Ilana Rubel (D) looks on at right as Sen. Melissa Wintrow (D) speaks out during a press conference about the lack of progress made so far this legislative session on Tuesday, March 7, 2023.
Idaho Democratic leaders are calling on the majority party to start addressing the governor’s priorities — such as education, property tax relief, and infrastructure — instead of focusing on “national right-wing talking points.”
“Tucker Carlson’s latest monologue is a far better predictor of what will appear on the agenda of this building than what actual Idahoans really want and need,” House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said at a press conference. “This year the trend has reached crisis levels.”
The minority leadership held a press conference Tuesday, the day after the March 6 transmittal target date by which all legislation originating in the House should have gone to the Senate and vice versa. However, new legislation continues to appear on committee agendas.
Rubel and Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, said too much of the session has been wasted passing legislation focused on issues that aren’t solving issues in Idaho. Wintrow named raw milk, cigar tax, repealing the militia ban, library restrictions, school voucher-type legislation and the firing squad as “a lot of bills that really haven’t met the people’s needs at all.”
Rubel and Wintrow underscored education spending, particularly raising teacher pay, as something that was targeted as a priority that has not been taken up yet. The co-chairs of the budget-writing committee, Joint Finance and Appropriations, have said the education budgets will be done last.
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