Tidbits: Dog Fighting, Family and taxes...

...It was right after the Mike Vick case hit the airwaves that my email filled up and my phone started ringing off the hook. Many of our Meridian folks wanted to ensure that Idahoans sent a strong message to those sponsoring dog fighting or contemplating it, that it is an activity that will not be tolerated here.

During all my conversations, we all agreed that it's a sickening activity. After reading through all of the Idaho code that would be applicable to dog fighting, it appears that all of the code that could be used by our state prosecutors were considered misdemeanor crimes. Fines and jail time varies with the many statutes that could be used, but more importantly was the fact that as a misdemeanour, an Idaho prosecutor is stopped at the boarder when trying to bring someone charged before an Idaho Judge. A change to a felony would allow those charged and running into another state to be extradited back to Idaho for trial.

In mid July, I worked with the Legislative Services Office to draft legislation making this activity a felony. I also learned that Rep. Tom Trail from Moscow had worked some years previously on the same issue so I called him to compare notes and understand why his previous attempts to make this type of activity failed to get to the floor for vote. We agreed that we needed to work together to fix this issue and send a clear message to those contemplating starting or attempting to operate a dog fighting operation here in Idaho just won't be tolerated. We currently have the legislation before that AG for review to ensure we are not causing any other issues not intended by the proposed changes to code.

...The Family Task Force that was created by Speaker Denny will be meeting in Idaho Falls on the 30th for our first round of speakers (hopefully) helping us gain insight regarding the impact of broken families and any corresponding increased cost to state taxpayers. We will try to understand any association between the decline of the "traditional family" and increased costs in heath and welfare, prison systems and other state operations and programs. Our hope is to better understand the issues that are contributing to the increase of broken homes and help target funding that could be focused on increasing the ability of families to stay together and raise healthy kids. Our next meeting will be in Boise on Sept 24th for more hearings from folks in this area.

...It appears that there have been some issues at the Idaho State Tax Commission regarding completing our state tax income tax forms. They are behind because of some internal issues and are working hard to overcome the backlog of income tax returns yet to be completed. If you are due a refund and have not yet received it, this is likely the reason. Contact the Tax Commission toll free at 1-800-972-7660 or 334-7660 in the Boise calling area or on their website for more information regarding your individual return.