Science, Technology and Energy

Idaho’s energy development necessitates a comprehensive approach.

    • Promote Department of Energy funding for the Idaho National Laboratory’s

      research and development missions and cleanup obligation.

    • Recognize the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) as a statewide

      resource and sustain funding, including leveraging federal dollars.

    • Support the Strategic Energy Alliance and refi ne Idaho’s Energy Plan to

      include nuclear power.

    • Encourage regional transmission line extensions and connections to meet

      energy transmission needs and ensure power delivery to both public and investor

      owned utilities.

    • Promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education

      opportunities for teachers and students to foster a skilled and competitive

      workforce.

    • Support legislation amending Article 8, Section 3 of the Idaho Constitution,

      thereby enabling purchase of federal and supplemental power supplies necessary

      for economic development, without the need for an authorizing election

Arts and Cultural Tourism

    • Fully fund the Idaho Commission on the Arts and the Idaho Department of

      Commerce Cultural Tourism local granting programs that develop local economies

      and increase cultural tourism.

    • Lower the pass threshold for school bonds to 60 percent.

    • Fully fund all legislative mandates and additional student growth.

    • Enhance revenue rather than decreasing the K-12 and higher education

      budgets.

    • Allow increased fl exibility consistent with Idaho Association of School

      Administrators recommendations that would provide school districts with the

      ability to meet budgetary obligations. See http://www.idschadm.org/idschadm/site/default.asp.

    • Support the economical delivery of quality, collaborative, post-secondary

      education in Eastern Idaho through continued funding for University Place in

      Idaho Falls.

    • Support funding for the professional technical education system for job training

      to help laid off workers retrain and upgrade their skills.

    • Explore innovative ways to grow the Opportunity Scholarship Program each

      year including both public and private funding sources enabling more Idaho

      students to attend Idaho institutions of higher learning.

    • Require a review of Health and Welfare rules to eliminate redundancy and

      streamline processes to improve effi ciency and reduce cost of providing

      services

    • Adopt programs to attract nurse educators to Idaho’s nursing programs.

    • Invest state funding at a level to adequately match federal funding that supports

      services for Idaho’s vulnerable populations.

    • Review state health insurance rules focusing on ways to lower costs for Idaho

      businesses without decreasing coverage to Idaho’s citizens.

    • Adopt appropriate incentives for business growth to make Idaho competitive

      throughout the western states region. Incentives should be confi gured in such

      a way as to ensure that resources, where appropriate, are reinvested over time.

    • Support amendments to the Urban Renewal Law to clarify and modernize

      urban renewal and TIF practices and applications in regions and municipalities

      throughout the state.

    • Support Idaho’s participation in nationwide efforts to adopt a simple and

      uniform sales and use tax system to facilitate adoption of a sales tax on

      Internet purchases. We believe that fair and reasonable taxation of e-commerce

      is necessary to ensure that a level playing fi eld is maintained for our local

      businesses.

    • Eliminate the business personal property tax—provided this will not unduly

      shift the tax burden.

    • Support reducing the corporate income tax as it is considered too high to be

      competitive with other states for business attraction projects.

    • Fully support the Comprehensive Aquifer Management Plan (CAMP) Funding

      Act which was developed through collaboration with all stakeholders and

      which strives for balance between agriculture’s historic uses of water and the

      growing need for additional municipal water supplies.

    • Support policy that would allow for affordable rail service to transport agricultural

      products—including short line rail service.