Dear friends,
It’s been a busy two weeks since my last letter. The maintenance budgets that we worked so hard on in JFAC finally reached the House and Senate floors, despite fervent opposition from members of both parties. I’m proud of the work we did to bring you greater transparency with regards to how the government spends your hard-earned money.
As of today, five budgets have passed the House and five have passed the Senate. Next week they will switch sides and then all ten will go to the governor for his signature. This week JFAC will be closely examining the line item budgets, containing new spending from each agency. Rest assured that I will do my best to keep spending low, and where we do spend money, make sure it’s for the right things.
I have been working on a bill with Rep. Bruce Skaug of Nampa that would make aggravated sexual assault of a child a capital crime. Those who deliberately harm children in such a horrific way should pay the ultimate price. Expect House Bill 515 to have a vote on the floor this week.
The House will also hear H465 as early as Monday. This bill adds penalties for using AI to create pictures and videos of child pornography. Even though these depictions aren’t real, we’re told that they are often based on real children who are being exploited, and they feed a twisted desire in the people who watch them. As technology continues to advance we must always make sure we are protecting our children.
You might have heard that House Republicans voted to remove our Majority Leader last week. On Monday we will gather together to elect someone new. The job of Majority Leader is to help the Speaker manage daily business on the House floor, moving bills through the process so that we can vote on them. I look forward to electing someone who is a capable leader who has strong conservative principles.
Thank you to Daniel Murphy for the great picture of my wife and I at the Gem County Lincoln Day Dinner last week. I had a great time meeting Republicans from Emmett and Letha to Ola and Sweet, and everywhere in between!
Please visit my website, follow me on Twitter, and like my page on Facebook to keep up with the latest news. Share this post with your friends and ask them to subscribe too. Thank you for your support — representing the voters of Eagle and Gem County is an awesome privilege!