From the Executive Director: Week of February 10

I want to thank those of you who took the time to travel to Boise last week and attend IAC’s annual Midwinter Legislative Conference. During the course of the week we heard from Governor Little, legislative leadership, and legislators chairing committees germane to county government. I hope each of you were able to have meaningful policy discussions with your legislators.

In the coming weeks IAC will ask many of you to return to Boise to testify on legislation impacting county budgets, Medicaid expansion, and property taxes, just to name a few. The strength of IAC is in its members and the relationships you have with your legislators. Please build off of your relationships with your legislators to discuss policy solutions to the issues before the legislature that impact counties.

IAC will continue pushing out policy documents outlining the fiscal impact of proposed legislation on counties, talking points, messaging materials, and infographics to assist you in presenting information to legislators. Please use these materials to understand the impact of proposed legislation on your county and educate others. 

Lastly, as we tackle issues of common local government interest, please take the time to reach out to the various cities, highway districts, fire districts, and school districts in your counties. Build local coalitions to educate not only your legislators of the impact of proposed legislation on your county, but also your local chambers of commerce, rotary clubs, and other business and social organizations. This will help broaden the understanding of the impacts of legislation on counties and bring other stakeholder groups to the table to identify better policy solutions.