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Column: idaho legislature

Just days after a spat in which the Idaho Senate refused to hear a bill to eliminate a House proposal for a 1 percent cost of living adjustment to state retirees, which Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter also weighed in on, another potential turf battle looms—one that could doom the carefully crafted education budget, scheduled to be voted on Wednesday morning by the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC).

In Tuesday’s meeting of the House Education committee, Chair Representative Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, strongly criticized the process by which JFAC Chair Senator Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, had set up meetings with education stakeholders in order to determine the best way to make cuts to the education budget that would cause the least damage to schools and students. The meetings resulted in a proposed budget bill and an unprecedented dozen pages of intent language explaining it last week, which was supposed to culminate in a vote on Monday but which was postponed until Wednesday. Nonini issued a number of strong statements indicating that he believed JFAC was not paying enough attention to the education committee, which is supposed to be making policy decisions.

“I don’t know how he can criticize,” said Cameron, when informed of Nonini’s remarks. “He was part of the process.”

Opinion

A revamped bill requiring people to show a photo ID before voting—but which allows people without such IDs to vote by signing an affidavit—passed the Idaho House yesterday, 64-6. A similar bill last year was withdrawn at the request of the Secretary of State, and worked on over the summer.

In addition to the affidavit provision, the revamped bill now also doesn’t include vote-by-mail or absentee voting, which sponsor House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, said he planned to address in a separate bill, as well as another bill requiring photo ID to register to vote."It doesn’t go as far I’d like it to go,” he said. He didn’t say whether he planned to do either of those additional bills this session.

A number of other states have implemented or are working on implementing similar provisions, which are said to be intended to combat voter fraud but which some feel are intended to discourage people from voting who are seen as more likely to vote Democratic: the young, the old, the disabled, and minorities.

Column

Despite bipartisan opposition primarily focusing on end-of-life services, the health care workers “conscience bill,” which purportedly lets professionals deny making certain medications and services available based on their personal moral beliefs—but which critics say is an attack against birth control for women—passed the Senate on a 21-13 vote.

“The intent of this legislation is not to restrict or limit in any way health care services to women or men in Idaho,” said sponsor Senator Chuck Winder, R-Eagle.

When opponents brought up the fact that rural areas might already have a limited number of health care professionals to choose from, Winder responded that a survey supporters had performed of rural health care providers found that some of them didn’t provide those medications and services anyway.

idaho legislature

Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter feels misunderstood, wishes people would have more compassion for him, and if the economy would let him, he would like to make people happy.

That’s the impression he wanted to leave with the Idaho Press Club during its annual breakfast with the governor this morning.

When newspapers describe budget cuts he’s making, which he said are required to maintain a balanced budget, “there’s always an assignment of some personal philosophy,” Otter said, who added that he “bristles” when an article assigns motivation to him without asking him why. “And then when I explain them I’m ‘covering up,’” he said.

This year, with the repeated holdbacks, has been particularly tough, Otter said. “Holdbacks are never fun.” Being able to give money to a program, or to tell an agency to go ahead and spend the money and it would be paid for out of a supplemental is a lot easier to deal with, he said. “I used to think it was the other way around, but I don’t any more,” he said, saying later, “I would like to see some compassion that this is a tough, tough position to be in, and it’s not fun.”

“Just once, I’d like to see a headline that says, instead of ‘Otter Cuts Grade School,’ ‘Otter Obeys the Constitution,’” he said.

(There you go, Governor.)

Commentary

Before the 2010 Idaho legislative session had even started, both leadership and Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter had called for a short session, likely ending by April 1. Not only is the legislature said to cost $30,000 a day when it’s in session—particularly pertinent in this tough economic year—but it’s an election year, and legislators want to get back to their districts and campaign.

However, the budget process doesn’t start in earnest until March, and the legislators who aren’t on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee are apparently bored. Moreover, since it is an election year, legislators running for re-election want a voting record on which to run—and a voting record from their opponents to point to. Consequently, as with last year, the Legislature is occupying itself with the usual run of Strongly Worded Letters and dog-whistle bills.

That’s right. It’s Silly Bill Season.

idaho legislature

Idaho’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Commission decided this morning on a party-line vote to balance the 2010 budget, based on last week’s decision to set 2010 revenue at $2.28 billion, by cutting more than 7 percent from state budgets.

Given that it will take a few days for the bill to wend its way through the House, Senate, and to be signed by the Governor, this gives agencies just four months or so to implement the cuts—meaning the effect of the bill will be similar to a 20 percent cut at the beginning of a budget year.

Public schools, which initially were slated to be cut by $28 million, were held harmless through the use of stabilization funds and the remaining funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the stimulus package. But since the stabilization and stimulus funds were going to be used next year, that means schools face bigger cuts in fiscal 2011.

idaho legislature

In between the budget hearing part and the budget setting part, Idaho’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) hears from the chairs of the germane committees—the committees that cover a specific area—about what’s going on in their areas and what sorts of things they’d like the budget writers to keep in mind as they make their decisions.

It shows how serious some members of the Legislature are this year about saving time—usually germane committee hearings are scheduled over two days, but this year it was just one.

But with the even more restricted revenue goals for fiscal 2010 and 2011—set even lower last Friday when JFAC agreed with the $59 million lower figure from the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee, rather than with Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter’s recommended January figure—it’s unclear just how much difference any input from the germane committees could make.

“We’ll smile at you, and be very kind, and then do what we have to do,” said JFAC co-chair Representative Maxine Bell, R-Jerome.

new economy

Events such as the three incarnations of Ignite Boise proved that Idaho’s creative class could put on a show. Now they’re trying to change the world—or, at least, part of it.

A subset of the same Twitterati that attend, perform, and promote Ignite Boise now hold a monthly lunch event on what can best be described as “civic issues.” Thus far they’ve included the Boise Streetcar, the Boise comprehensive plan, and urban renewal legislation.  While a healthy smattering of Boise’s planning and development community attends, the presentations are on a layman’s level and the discussions, held in Boise’s business incubator the Watercooler, are casual and far-ranging.

The result could be a recapturing of the sense of civic engagement that some say that Boise, like many other cities, has lost.

idaho legislature

Public schools may be held harmless in 2010 through the use of reserve funds, and the $71 million that might not be needed to pay for increased Medicaid costs would be kept as a reserve fund rather than appropriated, Idaho legislative leadership told the Idaho Press Club at their annual lunch meeting today.

Naturally, the budget situation—even more dire now that the 2010 budget now needs to be cut by $109 million, after the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee accepted a figure for 2010 revenue that was $69 million lower than the one used by Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter, which was itself $40 million lower than the figure the 2009 Legislature used—was a major part of the discussion.

“This is a budget-driven session,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Bob Geddes, R-Soda Springs.

idaho legislature

This year’s attempt at a bill that purportedly provides health care professionals with the “freedom of conscience” to deny making certain medications and services available, but which critics say is an attack against birth control for women, has been modified to more explicitly call out “Plan B” emergency contraception.

“"Abortifacient" means any drug that causes an abortion as defined in 18604, Idaho Code, emergency contraception or any drug the primary purpose of which is to cause the destruction of an embryo or fetus,” the text of the new bill says, which, ironically, was submitted last Friday, the last business day before Valentine’s Day.

“This one doesn’t even dance around the issue,” according to Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest. “It specifically names emergency contraception as its target by falsely claiming that emergency contraception is abortion,” going on to cite Idaho code noting that emergency contraception is not an abortifacient.

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