{"id":1397,"date":"2021-04-07T17:57:12","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T00:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1397"},"modified":"2021-04-07T17:57:12","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T00:57:12","slug":"changing-tires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1397","title":{"rendered":"Changing Tires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
They’re off<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Idaho legislature took a few days off back in March, did you notice? But they are set to get back together this Tuesday. I hope they got the studded tires off their rigs before they head to Boise, because I doubt they\u2019ll be wanting to twirl a lug wrench in their suits and ties. Studs gotta come off here in Idaho by the end of April. Maybe they\u2019ll be done with their lawmaking duties by then. But it isn\u2019t going to snow in Boise in April; they should take them off now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the kind of thinking I want from a legislator; minimize the damage done to others. You see, while the studs make your traction better in ice and snow, they damage the roads. And we wear our roads out enough here in Idaho. Tire studs are regulated in Idaho law<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I bought some studs this year on Craigslist for my little two-wheel drive pickup. The old street tires were getting pretty bare. I was glad I had them with the snow and ice we had, but it\u2019s time to take them off. Probably need a new set of street tires. If they are all-weather, I might be selling those studs on Craigslist next fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some states ban studded tires, but they are like Hawaii and Florida and Texas. But get this, Minnesota also bans studded tires, and they get winter, I\u2019ve heard. Washington state had a ban on studded tires until 1969 when the legislature allowed them. Every year since the Washington Department of Transportation has recommended reinstituting the ban, but their legislature hasn\u2019t bit that bait. Washington does charge a $5 fee on every studded tire sold in the state. It goes into the highway repair fund, but they claim it doesn\u2019t cover the damage done. Heck, in Wyoming they are legal all year. But they have oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, past Idaho legislatures have decided to regulate some things, despite the tone of the current session. Maybe when they get back this Tuesday, they\u2019ll take a look at that studded tire law and throw that one out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They haven\u2019t been too welcoming to regulations this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is, unless it\u2019s public art. They want to regulate how municipalities do art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And historic names, like schools or parks, the legislature wants to put their hand on that scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yes, and anything to do with \u201csocial justice\u201d is facing hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they want to make it harder to turn in absentee ballots because, as House Majority leader Mike Moyle says, \u201cVoting shouldn\u2019t be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe studded tires are next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It really is about freedom, after all. There\u2019s a guy down the street drives by my house all summer on his way to Arby\u2019s with his studs on. I can hear him coming three blocks away. He\u2019s celebrating his freedom to run studs in the summer while he ruts up the road in front of my house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One person\u2019s freedom is the next person\u2019s rut in the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know about you but I\u2019m looking forward to the legislature getting back together. I heard some got the Covid so that\u2019s why they shut down suddenly. I really hope they are all better and nobody else gets sick. I hope they are ready to get back to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe their perspective has changed in this little two-week break. We know the faces haven\u2019t; the same butts will be in the same seats. And, despite the little Covid scare, most won\u2019t be wearing masks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But maybe they swapped to the summer tires. It would be the responsible, neighborly thing to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Idaho legislature took a few days off back in March, did you notice? But they are set to get back together this Tuesday. I hope they got the studded tires off their rigs before they head to Boise, because … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1398,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397\/revisions\/1398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}