[Vision2020] HJR 4 and 5

[Darrell Keim]

That was one of my thoughts upon reading D's comments this morning.  My
other thought was that D either doesn't like or doesn't understand that we
live in a representative democracy.  We elect representatives to vote on
things for us.  D seems to advocate either:
1.  A pure democracy.
2.  More use of ballot initiatives (ala Tim Eyman in WA, or California).

I like our system of representative democracy, and prefer not to circumvent
it with countless ballot initiatives.  California would seem to be a good
warning as to the dangers of too many initiatives.



On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 12:08 PM, Sue Hovey <suehovey at moscow.com> wrote:

>   And since when is a required 2/3 yes vote democratic?  Those of us who
> taught in antiquated school buildings for 30 plus years can certainly speak
> to that....as could you who went there.
>
> Sue
>
>  *From:* Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com>
> *Sent:* Monday, October 25, 2010 11:58 AM
> *To:* vision2020 at moscow.com ; ringoshirl <ringoshirl at moscow.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [Vision2020] HJR 4 and 5
>
>    "It's very limiting for these entities to need a 2/3 favorable vote
> every time they need to make these purchases that they need for their
> operations."-S. Ringo
>
> Democracy is so inconvenient isn't it?
>
>
> I think it is good practice to have a 2/3 vote before incurring any debt
> and bad practice to let a handful of people rack up a debt for future
> generations and others to absorb. I think if something truly is needed and
> debt needs to be incurred reasonable people will support it and it will
> pass. We cannot just let hospitals go bankrupt and shut down let other
> businesses, we need them.
>
> Again, people should not keep handing over their money and rights to an
> increasingly smaller number of people that may have other interests than
> your own in mind.
>
> Donovan J Arnold
>
> --- On *Mon, 10/25/10, ringoshirl <ringoshirl at moscow.com>* wrote:
>
>
> From: ringoshirl <ringoshirl at moscow.com>
> Subject: [Vision2020] HJR 4 and 5
> To: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Date: Monday, October 25, 2010, 5:32 AM
>
>  Visionaries:
>
> I support both of these.  It's very limiting for these entities to need a
> 2/3 favorable vote every time they need to make these purchases that they
> need for their operations. This does not affect Gritman.
>
> Shirley
>
> *
>
> H.J.R. 4
> *
>
> “Shall Section 3C, Article VIII, of the Constitution of the State of Idaho
> be amended to authorize
>
> public hospitals, ancillary to their operations and in furtherance of
> health care needs in their service
>
> areas, to incur indebtedness or liability to purchase, contract, lease or
> construct or otherwise acquire
>
> facilities, equipment, technology and real property for health care
> operations, provided that no ad
>
> valorem tax revenues shall be used for such activities?”
>
> Proposed Amendment to the Constitution of the State of Idaho: Section 3C,
> Article VIII
> *
>
> Legislative Council’s Statement of Meaning, Purpose and Result to be
> Accomplished of Proposed
>
> Amendment:
>
> *
>
> This proposed amendment will allow public hospitals to acquire facilities,
> equipment, technology and
>
> real property through a variety of means that aid the public hospital
> operations, as long as the acquisitions
>
> are paid for solely from charges, rents or payments derived from the
> existing or financed facilities and
>
> are not funded by property taxes. Under current Idaho constitutional
> provisions, public hospitals, as
>
> subdivisions of the state of Idaho, have limited ability to incur debt
> without the approval of a two-thirds
>
> vote at an election held for that purpose. This proposed amendment will
> provide a limited alternative
>
> to that two-thirds vote requirement. The use of tax dollars to finance
> these kinds of investments is
>
> prohibited.
>
> *
>
> Statements FOR the Proposed Amendment
>
> *
>
> 1. The proposed amendment will allow Idaho’s public hospitals, which are
> primarily located in
>
> small towns and rural areas, to invest in new medical equipment, facilities
> and technology to
>
> better meet the health care needs of patients in their communities,
> strengthening Idaho’s entire
>
> health care system.
>
> 2. The proposed amendment will help give public hospitals the resources
> they need to attract the
>
> best medical personnel, spur the economy by creating jobs, and increase
> operational efficiency
>
> through long-term contracts.
>
> 3. The proposed amendment keeps in place the safeguards provided in the
> Idaho Constitution in
>
> two ways. First, no tax dollars can be used to finance these investments.
> Second, the amendment
>
> strictly forbids obligating taxpayers or any state, county or other
> governmental entity with these
>
> investments.
>
> *
>
> Statements AGAINST the Proposed Amendment
>
> *
>
> 1. The existing Idaho constitutional requirement mandating a two-thirds
> assent of the voters before
>
> a public hospital can enter into long-term debt is an important safeguard
> for all Idaho citizens.
>
> 2. Adoption of the proposed amendment will limit the right of voters to
> approve certain debt
>
> incurred by the public hospitals.
>
> 3. Changes to the Constitution should be made only for major issues of
> interest to the state or in the
>
> event of a constitutional crisis.
>
> *
>
> H.J.R. 5
>
> *
>
> “Shall Article VIII, of the Constitution of the State of Idaho be amended
> by the addition of a new
>
> Section 3E, to provide for the issuance of revenue and special facility
> bonds by political subdivisions
>
> of the state and regional airport authorities as defined by law, if
> operating an airport to acquire,
>
> construct, install, and equip land, facilities, buildings, projects or
> other property, which are hereby
>
> deemed to be for a public purpose, to be financed for, or to be leased,
> sold or otherwise disposed of
>
> to persons, associations or corporations, or to be held by the subdivision
> or regional airport authority,
>
> and may in the manner prescribed by law issue revenue and special facility
> bonds to finance the costs
>
> thereof; provided that any such bonds shall be payable solely from fees,
> charges, rents, payments,
>
> grants, or any other revenues derived from the airport or any of its
> facilities, structures, systems, or
>
> projects, or from any land, facilities, buildings, projects or other
> property financed by such bonds,
>
> and shall not be secured by the full faith and credit or the taxing power
> of the subdivision or regional
>
> airport authority?”
>
> Proposed Amendment to the Constitution of the State of Idaho: New Section
> 3E, Article VIII
>
> *
>
> Legislative Council’s Statement of Meaning, Purpose and Result to be
> Accomplished of Proposed
>
> Amendment:
>
> *
>
> Currently, local governmental entities that operate airports and regional
> airport authorities cannot
>
> incur indebtedness without the approval of a two-thirds vote at an election
> held for that purpose. This
>
> proposed amendment will allow local governmental entities that operate
> airports and regional airport
>
> authorities to issue revenue and special facility bonds to acquire,
> construct, install and equip land,
>
> facilities, buildings, projects or other property. Voter approval will not
> be required to incur such
>
> indebtedness, as long as the bonds are paid for by fees, charges, rents,
> payments, grants or other
>
> revenues derived from the airport or its facilities. The use of tax dollars
> to repay such bonds is
>
> prohibited.
>
> *
>
> Statements FOR the Proposed Amendment
>
> *
>
> 1. Public airports should have the ready ability to construct needed
> facilities, such as terminals,
>
> runways, parking structures and hangars, which provide travelers with
> better services and
>
> accommodations and attract industries to Idaho as long as the users pay for
> these facilities.
>
> 2. Political subdivisions and regional airport authorities need the ability
> to efficiently address
>
> operational needs as they arise. Adoption of this amendment will provide
> this ability without the
>
> use of tax dollars to repay any debt or liability incurred.
>
> 3. The inability of political subdivisions and regional airport authorities
> to incur indebtedness and
>
> liability without voter approval has been a contributing factor in driving
> regional aviation-related
>
> industries to conduct business in neighboring states. If the proposed
> amendment is not adopted,
>
> Idaho could continue to lose similar economic development opportunities.
>
> 4. Public airports are a vital part of economic development and commerce in
> the state of Idaho. In
>
> 2009, aviation contributed an estimated $2.1 billion to Idaho’s economy.
> Properties and facilities
>
> funded by special facility bonds will attract and expand industries, such
> as maintenance, manu
>
> facturing
>
> and cargo operations, which will create new jobs and foster economic
> development in
>
> Idaho. Modern and efficient airports are essential to Idaho’s prosperity.
>
> *
>
> Statements AGAINST the Proposed Amendment (H.J.R. 5 Continued)
>
> *
>
> 1. The existing Idaho constitutional requirement mandating a two-thirds
> assent of the voters before
>
> a political subdivision or regional airport authority can incur debt is an
> important safeguard for
>
> all Idaho citizens.
>
> 2. Adoption of the proposed amendment will allow political subdivisions and
> regional airport
>
> authorities to acquire, construct, install and equip land, facilities,
> buildings and projects that are
>
> not specifically limited to airport operations.
>
> 3. Buildings and land owned by the government are not taxed and therefore
> provide no revenues to
>
> schools, cities, counties or other levying authorities. Adoption of the
> proposed amendment could
>
> result in an increase in property exempt from taxation.
>
> 4. Changes to the Constitution should be made only for major issues of
> interest to the entire state
>
> or in the event of a constitutional crisis.
>
> -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
>
> =======================================================
> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                http://www.fsr.net
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com<http://us.mc381.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Vision2020@moscow.com>
> =======================================================
>
>
>  ------------------------------
> =======================================================
> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                http://www.fsr.net
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
>
>
> =======================================================
>  List services made available by First Step Internet,
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>               http://www.fsr.net
>          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20101025/b6051d42/attachment-0001.html