Legislators are part time employees of the State of Idaho. Part time state employees received an increase in their health insurance premiums. This increase needs to be passed on to all legislators receiving state funded health care. Constituents should demand this of their elected officials!!!

It is ridiculous to continue to demand sacrifices from those are can no longer afford any more. Lead by example and cut salaries and perks from the highest ranks first.

The State of Utah operates a 4 day workweek. This has yielded annual savings of $4.8 million dollars. This savings came from (1) Decrease in overtime from state employees, (2) Energy savings, (3) Reduction in janitorial contracts, and (4) decrease of 3 million miles on the state fleet. After a year of operating a 4 day work week, 82% of Utah state employees found this schedule favorable. * Excluded from the 4 day work week were those agencies such as Dept. of Correction, Dept. of Juvenile Corrections, etc.

Drug test anyone receiving any government money such as Section 8 and Food Stamps. If they fail the test then revoke their cash flow and spend it somewhere else that will make a difference. At the very least, spend the money to enroll them in a drug rehab program instead of letting them continue to suck our system dry.

It is estimated that almost 500 state employees are eligible for retirement. Offer a retirement incentive that is cost effective when balanced with prospective new employee salaries.

Taxes

Create a one stop shop for citizens: Dept of Labor and Vocational Rehabilitative Services. Labor is primarily federally funded. The vocation rehabilitiatve services of the Industrial Commission are primarily funded from dedicated funds. Voc Rehab receives a fair chunk of funding from the state general fund. If we consolidated these agencies, we could absorb some of the IT, HR, Admin, and support redundancies.

In Texas, every few years, each agency has to go before the sunshine committe to determine if the agency still serves a legitimate purpose. I think Idaho needs to do something similar.

A monthly Capital Mall parking tag costs $5/month. A parking space costs many tens of times this amount to maintain. Charge a rational fee for parking. As a side benefit of saving tax money, perhaps it will encourage employees to find wiser ways of commuting.

Eliminate funding to these two commissions. Cut funding to IPT. Oregon doesn't sponsor Public Television. Public Television must raise funds and charge for its services.

The ill planned tax shift passed during the special session has seriously decreased the revenue for the state. This decrease in revenue is severely impacting schools and other important programs.

Homeowner occupied properties should continue to be exempt from the M&O portion of property tax. This plan was proposed, but never was given a chance for debate by the legislature. It is time to bring it back.

The state of Idaho should implement lean methodology in its operation. It should operate in a manner of continuous process improvement, much like the private sector (regardless of the state of the economy).

The constitution requires the legislature meet every year. Propose legislation changing this. If an emergency occurred, the Governor could call a special session of the legislature. It seems like legislators spend the 60 + days they are in Boise squabbling with one another. Limit the squabbling to every other year.

Fire the Director of Parks & Rec! When faced with the reality that P & R will be eliminated, she now comes up with a $4.5 million dollar business plan. NOW she'll begin to operate the agency like a business? Really?! What was she doing for the last 4 years? If a director in the private sector operated that inefficiently, they would get canned. Run it like a business and can the director.