Housing Survey Reminder
This is a reminder
that my Idaho Housing Survey is open until next Saturday, May 31.
I encourage all Idahoans to participate. Feedback will
help inform affordable housing legislation. The survey is
available here.
You can also read my guest column on the importance of this pressing
issue affecting many Idahoans on my website here.
Safeguarding Firefighters and Local
Communities from Wildfires
Uncontrolled wildfires
have devastating effects on communities and landscapes throughout the
West, including Idaho. I joined Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and
Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) to introduce the Forest Protection and
Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2025. This bill would ensure
timely access to fire retardant by preventing litigation driven
efforts to add additional regulatory burdens on this firefighting
resource. Read more on my website here.
Housing America’s Veteran
Heroes
Veterans disabled in combat have laid their
lives on the line in defense of this nation. In an effort to
continue ensuring disabled veterans housing benefits, I have joined
two pieces of legislation to protect their access to housing.
- I, along with Senator Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island), introduced the
Disabled Veterans Housing Support Act. This
bill would exempt payments to veterans for service-connected
disability from being included as income when applying for Community
Development Block Grant housing, enabling disabled veterans to
participate in federal housing programs they would otherwise not
qualify without this exemption. Read more on my website here.
- With Senators Alex Padilla (D-California), Dave McCormick
(R-Pennsylvania), Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) and Katie Britt
(R-Alabama), we introduced the Housing Unhoused Disabled
Veterans Act. This measure would permanently exclude
disability payments received by veterans from annual income for
housing assistance eligibility purposes under the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing
program. Read more on my website here.
Did You Know?
Did
you know 48 desks were produced by Thomas Constantine after the Senate
Chamber was rebuilt in August 24, 1814, that are still in use today?
While serving in the U.S. Senate, I have worked from four Senate
Chamber Desks, all four of which were Constantine desks. For a
majority of my time in the U.S. Senate, I have worked from Desk 74.
According to Senate historians it is highly likely I have been
the longest occupant of that desk. Read more in my recent weekly
column here.
###
