Thread: BUDGET: Challenges Ahead For Idaho

Senator Jorgenson will be presenting his bill to stop employers from hiring illegal aliens. Below in bold.

BUDGET: Challenges ahead for Idaho
Posted: Thursday, Jan 14, 2010 - 11:38:37 pm PST

While many citizens may have seen the celebratory images of the people's statehouse being re-dedicated and re-opened this past weekend, the start of the legislative session was anything but celebratory. Instead, from the opening gavel there has been a grim, but steely determination in the state Senate to get down to business.

This isn't our first bad budget rodeo; we had that last year and in 2003. We have watched and listened to the information coming out of Governor Otter's office over the summer and we are all well-aware of the financial straitjacket the state treasury is in.

The situation the state faces is no different than that of many of our neighbors and even elected officials in their own homes. We are all affected by this downturn and everyone has had to tighten their belts and to ensure that emergency savings are set aside, just in case.

There exactly our guiding principle in our thoughts regarding how to set next year's budget: Tighten the state's belts and to ensure we still have some emergency funds set aside in our rainy day accounts, just in case next year still has rough patches.

I broadly support Governor Otter's state of the state address speech and budget, though it is the Legislature's constitutional oath and responsibility to check through his numbers and make some changes if we feel we are obligated to.

There will be other issues to deal with during this session: I most certainly will be bringing legislation again this year which, if enacted, will help the state of Idaho curtail the numbers of illegal aliens who are draining our state's financial resources to the tune of $200 million dollars a year. If we could even reclaim 25 percent of this number, we would have no budget shortfall at all to address.

Our constitutional and moral obligations are clear: We do not deficit spend, we do not rely on government to solve all our problems, we do not look to new taxes to fund more government luxuries in times of financial crisis and we must compel Idahoan businesses to stop knowingly hiring illegal aliens.

As one of your elected state senators I am clear in my role and it is my intention to do what I know our friends and neighbors want from us in the Legislature: Pass the fewest new bills by focusing on what is important, trim and set the budget as prudently and carefully as possible and then go home.

If we do this correctly now, our state will certainly emerge in the best financial shape possible and allow us to return to increased prosperity without the burdens of even higher taxation and the specter of rampant illegal immigration.

SEN. MIKE JORGENSON

http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2010/0 ... tter03.txt

Senator Jorgenson's immigration enforcement bill mirrors the one in Arizona. When it is presented, we will be ready to fight for it.

Please Idaho get it right this time. Dont become another California,
Arizona HORROR.

Originally Posted by BrazenTempest

Please Idaho get it right this time. Dont become another California,
Arizona HORROR.

Yes, my dad moved up there to escape all that crap. Every winter says he wants to come back here and I tell him NO YOU DONT!

Can you Xerox the senator and send of few copies to each state? Amazing that there is one gentleman that does not believe in deficit spending. Please make Idaho an example for the rest of the nation!