As we get into the last part of the month of March, and our legislators in Boise start getting cabin fever, I thought it would be a good time to see how the agenda that leadership put before us at the beginning of the session is working out.
- Property tax relief. Early on in the session several legislators asked to explore our current “mark to market” property assessment system, with a system more like a cost bases system for placing a value on real estate. With increasing property assessments, many seniors and those living just above the margins are having to sell their homes—crickets.
- Grocery tax relief—crickets
- DHW audits and audits of those in the private and non-profit sector who receive over $100million of transfer payments—crickets
- A formal investigation of the now bankrupt Idaho Health Data Exchange that has lost over $97million of taxpayer monies—maybe it is time for the FBI to get involved in this investigation! How many government agencies and branches of government can be allowed to continue to kick that can down the road?
It really seems to me that many of our Republican legislators are more concerned with growing the size and scope of government and keeping revenues to all government agencies growing, than they are with putting money back in the pockets of citizens who are taxpayers. Are these guys representing the selfish interest of government or the interests of their constituents?
When government grows—taxes have to grow and money in the pockets of individuals, families, and businesses becomes less available for groceries, mortgages and rents, college savings and retirement contributions.
And here is what really sticks in my craw—As government programs grow in size, scope, and cost—let’s just focus in on Medicaid, individual citizens and businesses who pay their own insurance premiums, copays and deductibles are forced to pay more every year. Reimbursement to providers for both Medicaid and Medicare (not a State run program) are around 25% less than what commercial insurance pays. As the percentage of people on government subsidized health care increases, the everyday working stiff is paying more and more—but not those in the legislature or government employees or teachers who have the State pay for their health insurance. They don’t feel the pain that those who are covered in the private marketplace feel.
So as health insurance premiums go up in the private sector, those in our legislature feel none of the impact of their own policies. We the taxpayers pay for their insurance—in addition to our own. They pay almost nothing!
There seems to me to be an inherent injustice when legislators vote to increase Medicaid spending that causes their constituents to pay higher premiums for their health care and they feel none of the pain.
It is time to start cutting the State’s budget and one way of doing that would over a period of 5 years make government workers and teachers pay their own way for health insurance. Increase their salaries and make them shop for their insurance plans and providers, just like the rest of us.
Too many people slopping up to the trough I say.
