Urging Idaho’s Sens. Risch and Crapo to support paid sick days for railroad workers

Rail workers

Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo,

My husband is a signalman for the Union Pacific Railroad and the current president of the local chapter #111 of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen. We are your constituents. We urge you to consider supporting sick days for railroad workers. Guaranteeing seven paid sick days to rail workers would cost the rail industry a grand total of $321 million a year – less than 2% of its profits. Please don’t tell me the rail industry can’t afford it. Rail companies spent $25.5 billion on stock buybacks and dividends this year.

Every politician who is siding with the rail companies should automatically have their sick leave reduced to one day per year as well. If you do choose to vote on the side of the fat cat multibillion-dollar railroad corporations by denying my husband and his fellow railroad workers the right to one week of sick days, can you please have the decency to explain to the workers why they don’t deserve sick days?

And you should have enough character to explain why you should receive sick days, but essential rail workers should not.

Jody A. Edge, Nampa

Update: After this letter was submitted, the Senate passed a rail labor bill averting a strike. An amendment to the bill to include paid sick leave was rejected. Risch and Crapo voted in favor of the bill but against the amendment to include paid sick leave.

Osher

In 2009, when my husband and I were deciding where to move from Albany, New York, there were a few preferences. My husband wanted a place that offered skiing and fishing. I sought culture. We found Boise.

One of the determining factors for me was discovering the then-named Renaissance Institute, now called the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Osher, affiliated with Boise State University, is one of 125 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes in the United States. For those age 50 and over, Osher is a reasonably priced membership-based program that offers non-credit courses, lectures and events for the intellectually curious.

With five curriculum committees that draw from education and the community, varied classes and courses feature programs ranging from art and history to science and technology.

There are no exams and minimal — if any — homework. There are healthy dialogues, learning experiences and field trips. You may choose to band birds, listen to opera, learn about current events, write a memoir, explore geology, delve into economics. Osher is a place to satisfy your curiosity, a place where lifelong learning may lead to lifelong friendships.

For more information, visit boisestate.edu/osher or call (208) 426-6554.

Merilee Marsh, Boise

Sticker Shock

I’m Johnathan, a student from Renaissance High School in Meridian. My school’s National Honor Society recently partnered with the Meridian Anti-Drug Coalition to participate in a statewide Sticker Shock campaign, a project sponsored by the Idaho Office of Drug Policy and the Idaho State Liquor Division to help dissuade adults from providing alcohol to minors. According to the Idaho Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2019, 43% of underage drinkers reported receiving alcohol from a legal adult, likely a parent or a friend.

This campaign is meant to combat that by reminding adults that giving alcohol to minors is not only illegal, but harmful. According to the Idaho Office of Drug Policy, 22 Idahoans under the age of 21 died from alcohol-related incidents in 2018 and, statistically, nine of those likely received alcohol from an adult. These people could have been any one of our family members or a friend. Knowing this is scary. Looking at the facts, it is clear these deaths are preventable and it starts with convincing adults not to purchase alcohol for minors. If we do this, it will surely lead to a brighter future for everyone.

Johnathan Van Vliet, Boise, Renaissance High School, National Honor Society

Child tax credit

Congress must not pass tax cuts for corporations without expanding the child tax credit.

Despite all the attention on the next Congress, the current Congress can make history again this year. In 2021, the expanded child tax credit with monthly payments helped cut child poverty by 46% last year, and it was one of the largest one-year reductions in history. The monthly child tax credit payments gave parents the freedom and flexibility to cover rent, food and utilities when they needed it most – monthly bill time. Since the payments expired last December, child poverty has increased, parents can’t work because they can’t afford child care and global inflation has made basic necessities more expensive. Congress wants to extend tax breaks for wealthy corporations in December. It would be unconscionable for Congress to do that while ignoring millions of American families struggling to make ends meet. Last year, we achieved a historic reduction in child poverty. We can do it again. I urge Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, and Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher and all members of Congress to reject any corporate tax cuts this year unless an expanded, monthly child tax credit for all low-income families is also included.

Dawn Pierce, Boise

Energy

Idaho is lucky to have a leader like Sen. Mike Crapo in Washington working to advance smart, bipartisan policies that strengthen our economy and secure a cleaner energy future. The senator’s recent introduction of the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act will help drive critical research in nuclear energy that will continue to drive innovation, create jobs and help reduce emissions.

The senator’s support of bipartisan clean energy policies like the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act is the latest example in his proven track record for advancing legislation that benefits and helps strengthen efforts at the Idaho National Laboratory. This bill would increase the critical nuclear research and development underway at INL by streamlining the permitting processes for nuclear and furthering the development of nuclear fuels. It would also aid in strengthening our national energy security by reducing reliance on foreign nuclear fuel sources.

Just like the bipartisan infrastructure law Sen. Crapo helped pass last year, this legislation will help Idaho and the entire country move critical clean energy policies forward. Nuclear is and will continue to be a critical element of an all-of-the-above approach to energy, and the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act will help ensure it stays that way.

Carrie Puente, Nampa

This story was originally published December 2, 2022 at 4:00 AM.