| Senator
Nuxoll's weekly newsletter
10th weekly update 2016  applicants
must make to the Chief Law Enforcement Officer in order to acquire firearms
according to the National Firearms Act. This legislation would ensure
that certificates requesting the purchase of firearms would not be public
information, without impeding local, state, or federal access to the information.
I supported this bill because this would prevent disclosure to potential
thieves and protect law-abiding citizens.
H 524, Companion Animal Torture bill, provides for felony penalties for the torture of a companion animal. Any person convicted of torture to a companion animal is guilty of a felony on the first offense if that person has been convicted of voluntary infliction of bodily injury upon any human within the previous ten years. Any person convicted of torture to a companion animal is guilty of a felony on the second or subsequent convictions. I did not support this bill because the 2012 law is adequate. SCR 15, Risk of Bias in Administrative Hearings Resolution, appoints a committee to study mitigating the risk of bias in contested case proceedings between state agencies and members of the public who are opposing parties in administrative hearings. Administrative hearings are quasi-judicial proceedings in which agencies may perform the roles of investigator, prosecutor, and judge. An audit found that the types of actions involving administrative hearings total 93, with 52% presenting moderate to high risk for bias. 60% of the hearings were for unemployment determinations. I support this committee to make sure that our citizens are treated fairly. H 351, Dam Regulation Bill, is intended to accomplish two things: 1) to change the definition of a dam to remove some smaller sized dams from regulation requirements, and 2) to require written approval from the Department of Water Resources (IDWR) for plans, drawings and specifications to be submitted by a professional engineer to construct, enlarge, alter or repair all dams based on the new definition. This change will eliminate inspection for approximately one-quarter of all dams that are currently inspected without negatively affecting public safety. I supported this bill. H528, the Sexual Assault Kit bill, is to create and codify systems used by law enforcement, health care facilities, and the Idaho State Police (ISP) Forensics Laboratory in the processing of sexual assault evidence kits in the State of Idaho. Currently there are not statutes that address sexual assault kit evidence collection in our state. This legislation would provide a consistent process to better support victims, law enforcement, health care facilities, and the forensics laboratory, ensuring that guilty rapists are found and innocent people will be spared. H513, the Federal Real ID Act, requires Idaho to implement all provisions of the REAL ID Act and to submit status reports to the US Dept of Homeland Security. HB 513 causes the state to acquiesce to federal edicts in violation of constitutional principles. Although I voted against the bill, it passed. H531, Biosecurity Bill, sets fines and penalties for the release or attempted release of a disease or poison on agricultural land or facility. Plants and animal diseases are easy to use on crop land and cheap household chemicals can be used to devastate agricultural facilities. The threat is real so I voted for this bill which passed. H504, Public Defense, is the product of three years of study by the Public Defense Reform Interim Committee, setting procedures for the oversight, implementation, and enforcement of indigent defense standards so that the right to counsel of indigent persons is constitutionally delivered to all Idaho indigent persons. Counties can apply for state funds to offset the cost of compliance with indigent defense standards. The counties have been having a difficult time paying for proper indigent defense and this gives them tools on how to accomplish this through a state process. I voted for this bill. Please email if you have questions. Sen. Sheryl L. Nuxoll Idaho State Senate (208) 332-1355 (Direct line) (208) 332-1417 (Assistant’s line) snuxoll@senate.idaho.gov |
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