Hello all. First I wanted to let you know I will be back in town on Saturday, Feb. 28, for three town hall meetings. Please come and bring your questions. The meetings are: Bonners Ferry, 9:39 a.m., Providence Church, 6530 Washington St.; Sandpoint, 12:30 p.m., Panhandle Health Building, 326 Marion Ave.; Laclede, 3 p.m., Laclede Community Center, 27 Riley Creek Park Dr.

The weeks have been flying by. Last Sunday, I participated in the statewide 4-H conference titled “Know your Government” at the state capitol. The 4-H’ers were divided into committees, given mock topics, and participated in a mock legislative session. It was awesome to work with these kids. They were top notch.

I have also been receiving letters from many Idaho inmates who have concerns about probation and parole issues under current state laws. I was scheduled to visit several area prisons (as a guest) with the Department of Idaho Corrections on Feb. 21 to learn more about issues and conditions.

The bills have been flying through committees and the floor. To date, the House has printed 181 bills and the Senate has printed 104. It is impossible to list them all but each bills can be viewed in detail at: http://legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2015/legIndex.htm.

A few highlights from the past few weeks included a Senate bill to repeal the SBAC testing that was printed and should be heard next week. The Senate also voted to repeal horse racing (SB1011). There is a parental rights bill making its way through the House, and a constitutional carry bill has been printed in the State Affairs Committee. A dredge mining bill to remove unreasonable regulation from the dredge mining industry was discussed and JFAC will finally begin setting the budget next week.

The Education Committee had a busy week. The 4th District Judge issued a ruling that IEN contract is void. The $60 million contract for the broadband network that links high schools in Idaho was declared void in November 2014. On Monday, they reviewed where we currently stand with the IEN problem. As of Thursday, HB 168 was in place on the House side to fund IEN through the end of the school year. The education committee also had a report from the Library Committee and a review of the Idaho Longitudinal Data System.

In the Transportation Committee, a bill that would allow for a local option registration fee increase for repairs on specific roads and bridges was discussed. These fee increases would be temporary increases intended for specific projects. The increases would require a two-thirds supermajority, countywide vote, even if the highway district did not cover the entire county.

This week, Idaho’s federal senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo addressed the Idaho Legislature. Both had great concerns for the future of our country due to the national debt. Senator Crapo expressed our “critical danger for refusal to deal with our debt.” Our federal government spends $11 billion per day of which we borrow $2 billion every day to do this …

Sen. Risch mentioned that there are plans to use force against ISIS, which are actively working in the Middle East to create a religious caliphate (a form of Islamic government) and spread anti-Semitic rhetoric. Sen. Risch also reminded the Legislature that Idaho is a sovereign state and reminded us of the 10th Amendment. We need to stand firm as a state.

Sen. Crapo ended his message by saying that abuses by federal agencies on our citizenry is out of control. The federal government has created some 21,000 new regulations which cost the private sector $785 million to comply. Can you imagine how many jobs and families could benefit if this money was being pumped into our economy instead of our government? He mentioned many, including over-regulation of our waters, the push to drive carbon-based sources out of our country, credit card data collection on private citizens, regulations on businesses and general violations of our privacy and freedoms.

That is all for now. I hope to see you all on Saturday, Feb. 28, for the town hall meetings.

• Rep. Heather Scott represents District 1A in the Idaho Legislature.