COEUR d'ALENE - Conversation was lively during the town hall forum with Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d'Alene, in the Coeur d'Alene Public Library's Community Room on Saturday.

Malek fielded nonstop questions about several topics that he will be focusing on during the next legislative session - the new bill to build a veterans home in North Idaho, the Idaho Education Network, transportation taxes and concerns and community paramedicine as well as instant horse racing, the "Add the Words" movement and a few other issues that were on the minds of the more than 40 people who attended.

Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d'Alene, Rep. Ron Mendive, R-Post Falls and Rep. Kathy Sims, R-Coeur d'Alene were also in attendance.

"It's extremely valuable to hear from people who live in my district and to get a feedback on what I'm doing and if I'm thinking the same way that they're thinking," said Malek, who was unable to attend the Jan. 31 legislative town hall meeting because he was in Boise.

"When you have 12 legislators sitting up there, it's hard to communicate everything that you want to communicate," he said. "We have representative government, you should be able to talk to your representative, and I'm trying to think of new ways to do this. This is one of those ways."

First on the agenda was the newly introduced veterans home bill, which would use state matching and federal funds to build a 50-bed, long-term care facility possibly in Post Falls.

"The fact is, we have the need, because veterans can't afford to get into the private options that are available," Malek said. "The payer system is unique with the federal government, so we need a facility that's qualified as a veterans home in order for these guys to receive long-term care. There's a lot of guys and women who are going without care right now because no one accepts them into their facilities."

"I have a real life example," said Jennifer Locke of Hayden. "My father-in-law has ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and served in Vietnam. One time, when we had to take him to the hospital, they said, 'No, you have to take him to the (Veterans Affairs) in Spokane,' so I don't know if it's a federal mandate or how it works, but a lot of times these people can't just show up at a random hospital if they're going to be receiving VA services or coverage, so it does make sense, it would be a benefit. There's a lot of soldiers from Vietnam who have ALS and other diseases."

Malek said the Idaho Education Network, a system created to provide broadband to schools throughout Idaho, has gotten a "bad rap" because of poor contracting.

"The state made a terrible mistake when it came to the contracting of that system, it's jeopardized the entire operation, the entire initiative," he said. "It really is a mess, but again, the whole initiative itself is something that I applaud and I want to see continue. The last thing anybody that I know wants to have happen is to have that thing go dark."

Mendive said the Idaho Education Network issue has an interesting side note.

"There's a reluctance, for whatever reason, for districts to use this, I'm not sure why," he said. "I do believe it's the future, especially for the little districts, but there is a reluctance right now to use it."

"To that point," Malek responded, "the reality is a lot of these rural school districts are extremely strapped for personnel, so for us as a state to throw something else at them, even if it is a great resource for the students, they're doing everything they can to get the bare minimum done already, so for us to put another mandate on them isn't working, and a lot of the school districts were upset with the way we did the contracting, so there's discontent over that as well."

Several people chimed in when the subject of funding transportation came up, everything from taxing bicyclists to fighting the gas tax.

"We have not done anything to fund transportation for far, far too long," Malek said. "We have been kicking the can down a pot-holed road for a long time ... various groups have worked together to come to this number: We are failing to meet our maintenance budget by about $262 million, and that's not just the ITD (Idaho Transportation Department), that's a combination of local highway districts, cities, counties, ITD."

Sharon Culbreth of Coeur d'Alene stood and shared her thoughts on the matter.

"I understand the feds are going to go after gas, as you know, the prices go down on gas and all of a sudden the government wants to tax us, so if the feds do it and then you do it, that's going to make gas right back where it was," she said. "In my opinion, I'd like to see you hire somebody to go into the county and find out where money's being spent that doesn't need to be spent, and find money there.

"I always am hearing what you're spending. I think it's time that you look at where you're spending what can be removed or reduced," she continued. "The middle income people in our community are having one heck of a time struggling, and to keep adding spending is not beneficial to us."