Minnick praised by NFIB

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Brad Close, Director of Federal Public Policy of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), issued the following statement in reaction to Congressman Walt Minnick’s vote on H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

“NFIB appreciates Congressman Minnick’s concerns for how small businesses have been impacted by the recession, and his recognition that the bill voted on today did not contain the kind of immediate relief to help small businesses weather this economic storm and begin to create new jobs.

“Congressman Minnick understands that to be effective, we need an economic stimulus that can be implemented immediately and that does not keep spending federal taxpayer dollars for years to come.  We appreciate Congressman Minnick’s willingness to put aside politics and work in the best interest of America’s job creators.

“America’s small businesses are the risk taker and job creators in our economy—they created 60-80 percent of the net new jobs over the last decade.  But in the current economic environment, small businesses, like the rest of the country, are struggling.  With the right relief and incentives small business can play a major role in creating a strong and lasting economic recovery.  NFIB is concerned that with the limited relief and assistance in the economic recovery legislation, the bill will do little more than spend a generation’s of taxpayer dollars on programs that have no significant connection to economic growth or job creation.

“NFIB looks forward to working with Congressman Minnick on implementing the kind of economic stimulus that small business needs.”

Walt addresses Idaho Legislature: calls for bi-partisan solutions

Boise, Idaho – U.S. Representative Walt Minnick addressed both houses of the Idaho Legislature today. Minnick highlighted the cooperation he values with Republicans and Democrats on the national level. He urged his fellow Idaho leaders to build bridges over partisan divides and be a model for Congress.

The speech:

For the House:
Speaker Denney, Majority Leader Moyle, Minority Leader Rusche.
For the Senate:
President Pro-Tem Geddes, Majority Leader Davis, Minority Leader Kelly.

I very much appreciate the opportunity to stand before you today and offer this report from that other Capitol, the one in the East whose decisions so often seem foreign, but whose money we rarely refuse. I must admit it’s a bit strange going there after a career as a businessman from the West.  And it has not always been smooth sailing.  Like those before me have said, Washington is not at all like Idaho.
After all, in Idaho we do know how to handle snow!

In fact, we in Idaho know how to handle a lot of things better than do the folks in Washington.  Those who get elected to the Legislature and other offices in Idaho tend to be proud and independent, not easily intimidated, and determined to stick up for what they believe.  (Too determined, the Governor might add!)  Idaho legislators are willing to stand up against their own leadership, are skeptical of big government, are determined to spend only what comes in and are anxious to make friends from across the aisle.

This determination to think things through and do what’s best for the people, regardless of which party proposes it, is too often lacking in our nation’s capital. While the vast majority of my colleagues are very bright, work hard, and care deeply for the districts they represent, they way too often let leadership do their thinking for them.
That’s unfortunate.  Because in Congress today, the leadership of both parties is very sharply partisan.  So partisan that blaming the other side has become more important than solving problems.  This doesn’t sit well with me.  Nor with most Idahoans.

Partisan battles have left our nation in a perilous place. Its legacy includes an out of control budget deficit that, ironically, both parties helped to create.  And runaway entitlements which will soon self destruct unless radically reformed.  The decisions required to solve these fiscal issues are so hard that they can’t be made unless both parties agree.  How to get this done before China stops buying our debt is the biggest single issue we in Washington must face.

But whether it is jump starting the economy and putting people back to work, reforming health care, rescuing Social Security or protecting our citizens from terrorism , Congress has defaulted to the partisan and too often failed to solve the problem . Those of us who have tried to stand firmly in the middle, focused on finding cost effective solutions, have had to duck the grenades hurled from both the left and the right.
To be honest, when I went to Washington a year ago I expected more statesmen—and fewer people acting like children.

But there is hope.

One of your former colleagues and my good friend, Congressman Mike Simpson, happens to be one of the most respected members of the House of Representatives.  Mike has applied the lessons he learned here in the Idaho Legislature – forging consensus, working across the aisle, getting things done– to become one of the select group of Congressmen who are deeply respected by their peers in both parties and across the political spectrum.

Mike’s given me valuable advice, and we have worked very effectively together.  Our partnership mirrors the work of many others in this Congress, from the two friends who serve as the chair and ranking minority member of the House Agriculture Committee to the kind words offered by Senator Orrin Hatch when his close friend Senator Ted Kennedy passed away last year.
Now it’s true Mike and I sometimes disagree. After all, we are members of different political parties, we have different backgrounds and we approach issues in different ways. But far from being a cause for friction, it is a source of strength for Idaho.  We learn from each other—and we work both sides of the political street.  When we run into each other on yet another uncomfortable flight back home,  suitcases at our feet and bags under our eyes, it is not about Republican or Democrat. It is not about who won and who lost. It’s about getting things done and what’s best for our state.
Staring, yelling and posturing at each other from across a chasm of political divide has gotten our country nowhere. It has grown so dysfunctional that the leaders of both parties now taunt each other, daring them to show “bipartisanship” by jumping in front of that freight train, by leaping into the abyss.

This must change.

The only way to deal with the chasm that has disrupted our political discourse is not to ask people to jump, but to ask for their help in building a bridge.
Here in Idaho there are many areas where we can agree.

One example is the importance of education.  For our kids to earn a decent living in the 21st century and for us to succeed as a nation, education must get better and be delivered in a more cost effective fashion.  Most of us agree it needs to start earlier, become more robust in K-12 and continue on through college or other technical specialized training.
As a businessman who looked carefully at the costs and the benefits, I came to believe firmly that our local school systems should be given the right to establish formal pre-k classes so that all kids start school equally prepared to learn.  And as a conservative who believed that the best government is that which is closest to the people, I also thought that local school districts and local governments should be given the authority to make and fund these decisions for themselves.  Now, as an elected official, I understand better why such change, which I still believe is critical if Idaho is to compete in the information age, must be achieved through bi-partisan consensus.

I also think we must beef up the requirements for high school graduation, especially in math and science, and give our schools the ability to access local sources of funding when, as now, state revenue is so limited.
Access to higher education must become universal by increasing scholarship assistance, expanding certificate programs and relying on enhanced broadband technology for delivery of content.  All of these changes, which I hope you will continue to evaluate, will require input and buy in from both political parties.

I know that times are tough, and that you face very difficult choices.  I will do what I can to help backstop your efforts by providing federal assistance where it is available.
There are other areas in which you can show the way for this Congress and our nation.  For example, your mandate to balance Idaho’s budget gives you ample reason to try some of the ideas that Congress is only just talking about.

For example, while we in Washington wait to implement a special commission to make recommendations on reforming out of control entitlement spending—an idea I very much support—you can act on this idea.  I suggest you might consider creating such a bipartisan commission of experts, appointed by the Governor and the Legislature, who would be tasked with offering ideas for closing next year’s budget deficit by taking a fresh look at both spending and our state’s sales tax structure.

Unlike the Congress, where we recoil at the idea of giving such groups real authority, you could specify that you will give the Commission’s recommendations a straight up “yes or no” vote in the next legislature.
So to the Majority running this legislature, I say to you exactly the same thing I do to the Democratic leaders in Congress: Reach across the aisle and bring your colleagues to the table.  Good ideas come from both Republicans and Democrats.  The loyal opposition may have different views and occasionally a different approach, but their constituents have the same needs as yours.

And, like you, your fellow legislators across the aisle love this state and have put their lives on hold to help make Idaho a better place.  And to my fellow Democrats, become part of the process, recognize that compromises have to be made in these tough times, and be constructive in your public comments.

The Idaho Legislature can show the rest of the nation the way.  Not through partisan bickering or headline-grabbing bills, but through the kind of quiet, colleague-to-colleague hard work that can effect real change for a community, a legislature, and a state.

So I ask for your help. I ask you to stand together and to work with the four us in the federal delegation to show the rest of our nation that while we may sometimes disagree, we share common values and can get things done.

We run as Republicans and Democrats, but we must govern as Idahoans.

It has been an honor and a privilege to speak to you today. Thank you for all you do for Idaho.

Idaho delegation fights forest fee hike for seniors, disabled

Washington, D.C. - Idaho’s Congressional Delegation is asking the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service not to cut discounts for senior citizens and disabled Americans under the Interagency Pass Program. The program provides discounted use rates for activities on Forest Service lands, but a plan is under discussion to reduce the discounts from 50% down to about 10% for programs and services operated by Forest Service concessionaires.

Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, and Congressmen Mike Simpson and Walt Minnick sent the following letter today to Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell:

The Honorable Tom Tidwell
Chief
U.S. Forest Service
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250

Dear Chief Tidwell:

We are writing to express concern with a U.S. Forest Service (USFS) proposal to allow a decrease in discounts for senior citizens and the physically disabled on USFS lands, as proposed in the Federal Register on December 1, 2009.

As you know, the USFS is a participant in the Interagency Pass Program, authorized by Congress in December 2004.  Congressional intent in establishing this pass program was to continue the multiple benefits of an earlier fee program (Fee Demo Program) by simplifying and standardizing the fee types and providing for public input in establishing fee locations and amounts, among other things.  However, that authorization also provided the Forest Service with authorities – unused up to this point – to reduce discounts for senior citizens and the disabled in some circumstances.

Under the aforementioned proposed regulations, some pass holders will find the cost of recreation on their public lands prohibitive. Of equal concern to the actual economic impact is the demographic groups that it will effect; the recession has been especially hard on senior citizens and the disabled, who already must shoulder the burden of high healthcare costs and depleted retirement savings.

As the recession has gone on, more American families have turned to our public lands for vacationing and recreation purposes than they had in the past.  In part to address this rising demand, Congress has provided funding increases for the National Forest System activity in recent appropriations bills.  Furthermore, the Forest Service received $650 million for capital improvement and maintenance in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  As such, we are confused as to why the Forest Service would find it necessary or appropriate to levy increased fees on seniors and the disabled.

We urge you to maintain these discounts at their current levels.  In this economic climate, we cannot eliminate the opportunity for our senior and permanently disabled citizens to enjoy our public lands.

Nation’s Wheat Farmers Honor Walt

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick is fighting for Idaho agriculture in Congress, and farmers have taken notice.

The National Association of Wheat Growers awarded the 2009 Wheat Advocate Award to U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick. The award is given to “Members of Congress who have demonstrated support for the wheat industry above and beyond the norm,” according to a NAWG press release.

“As someone who grew up on a family wheat farm, I know firsthand that farmers and ranchers form the backbone of America so I am honored to accept this award,” Minnick said. “Wheat farmers are not only a key component of Idaho’s economy, but family farms are the foundations of Idaho’s rural communities. I take my job on the House Agriculture Committee very seriously and use my position to strengthen family farms, fight for healthy markets, stave off unfair or unbalanced regulation, keep farmers working the land, and make sure Idaho’s agricultural industry is competitive on a global scale. If we work just half as hard in Washington, D.C., as farmers work in Idaho, we can solve many of the problems plaguing our country.”

Travis Jones, Executive Director of the Idaho Grain Producers Association, said Idaho farmers are grateful for Minnick’s support in Washington, D.C.

“He has taken some big votes, tough votes, for us on our behalf in the first session of the 111th Congress,” Jones said. “IGPA is very fortunate to have Congressman Minnick working on our behalf and that of Idaho grain producers. We look forward to his help in the upcoming year.”

In 2009, Idaho farmers produced 99.1 million bushels, up 1 percent from 2008. But these are difficult times for Idaho’s farmers and ranchers. Declines in the dairy and beef industries, drove net farm income down by 47 percent, from $1.904 billion in 2008 to $1.018 billion last year. Despite the decline, Idaho agriculture earned an estimated $5.4 billion in 2009 cash receipts and employed 17 percent of Idaho’s work force.

Walt on the president’s budget

Washington, D.C.  – U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick said the nation must tackle budget deficits more aggressively than was proposed in the President’s $3.8 trillion budget Monday.
“The size of the deficits, this year and in future years, is truly disturbing,” Minnick said. “We need to get spending under control and we need to do it in a bi-partisan way.”

Minnick lauded the president’s call for a bi-partisan, fiscal commission to make tough budget recommendations. But the commission must have power to do more than just advise, and Congress should be forced to accept or reject the recommendations with an up or down vote.

Minnick has been a vocal proponent of PAYGO rules that helped create America’s budget surplus in the late 1990s. But leaders must move more decisively by adopting other budget control such as passing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and by giving up earmarks.

Minnick praised proposals to boost investment in education and energy. Renewable energy investment would get $4.7 billion. Loan guarantees to build new nuclear power plants would jump by $36 billion. The president also proposed more robust spending on Pell Grants and other education programs.

“If our nation is to remain strong and competitive, we must have a well-educated work force. Every Idahoan should have access to a college education, or other post-high school training, which leads to higher earning power and better opportunities,” Minnick said.