Politics: LaRocco on Idaho

Otter Ignores Elephant: No Vision Thing

By Larry LaRocco, 1-11-07

Houston, I think we've got a problem with this vision thing with new Governor Otter. His State-of-the-State speech to legislators shouted: "Let's just get the hell outta here by April 1 with no blood on the floor." On the same day as the speech, Otter’s “maintenance” budget contrasted, ironically, with headlines announcing California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal for a universal health insurance plan for California. Republican Governor Schwarzenegger – isn’t that the same party as Butch’s? NPR described Schwarzenegger's proposal as ambitious. We don't do "bold" or "ambitious" in Idaho. We maintain.

Here's the deal: I think Idaho is an incredibly exciting place to live, work and play. In fact, it's the best place in the country. The state is humming. Creative juices are flowing like the Salmon River in almost every sector of our economy. In a dynamic environment like this I believe the government should keep pace with the energy in the private sector.

For example, early childhood education produces the greatest return on investment (ROI) that a state can make. Not a mention of this was made by Otter, even though business leaders are pounding the table for investment in human capital at an early age. 240,000 Idahoans don't have health insurance, 80% of whom work. Not a mention was made by Otter even though he could have dealt with the issue incrementally by assisting uninsured children, or seniors caught between a rock and a hard spot just before Medicare eligibility.

The Idaho Statesman just devoted a tabloid to "Techidaho" on how Idaho stacks up in promoting the digital economy. It's a must-read for every legislator and policy wonk. The most important elements of this document were what wasn't said, and what was said - in a nuanced way - regarding the Idaho commitment to grow the tech sector of our economy. There's an elephant in the room – the governor and legislature’s failure to address the human-capital investment - and most of the contributors to the tabloid seemed to be holding back on saying so out loud.

Ignoring the elephant deserves our disappointment and criticism. I'm confident most contributors demurred because they hold out some hope Idaho might someday emulate Utah and grants will flow. We pat our selves on the techno-back quoting statistics from the State website that we generate more patents per capita than most states. That's great.....if the patents come from a broad array of high tech companies. In Idaho those patents are primarily focused in two areas: Micron Technology and Hewlett-Packard. We shouldn't use misleading statistics as a brag sheet when we've really still got training wheels on the high tech cycle.

As we maintain our way into the future we need some honest discussions about our priorities for expanding our economic base. If we want to be a call center economy and call it "high tech" that's one thing. If we want to really break out we're going to have to put our money where our mouth is.

It's a vision thing.

And it's right in front of our face.

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