House Highlights
By Tom Loertscher
In a lot of respects the opening of the 2008 session of the Idaho
Legislature is normal, but one thing is very different – our quarters.
It seems strange not to be in the capitol and this was a week of
adjusting to very much smaller working areas. In the House we are
stacked on top of each other on the floor with a balcony for twenty one
of the members. Committee rooms find us getting rather up close and
personal. Conspicuously lacking is a gallery for visitors to observe the
proceedings but provisions have been made for televising the sessions of
both chambers.

Out of necessity the State of the State Address was moved to the
auditorium at Boise State University. As Governor’s speeches go,
Governor Otter does not like to speak very long and he lived up to his
reputation of sounding conservative in a lot of ways. His budget
presentation contained a lot of new programs, and a lot of optimism
about the state’s economy. If the legislature were to approve
everything he outlined, it would result in an eleven percent increase in
the budget overall with a little over six percent of that ongoing,
requiring a long term commitment in the future. The red flag in all of
this is that the revenue projection for the same period is a little over
three percent. That would mean that if our economy were to slow even in
a minor way we would be in another budget crisis. I think you know what
happened the last time that occurred.

There were some positive things in the Governor’s remarks the most
noticeable one of which was his outlining a zero-based budget policy for
the future which in my view is something that is long overdue. This
process should bring transparency and accountability and new
efficiencies to agencies. Also in his budget request is a secure mental
health facility that is projected to cost seventy million dollars. I am
concerned about the cost, but it is also something that we have been
ignoring for a long time. Judges tell us that in the absence of this
kind of facility, they have little choice but to send the mentally ill
offenders to prison where they don’t get adequate treatment.

As is the case with every governor the budget picture he presented was
a sketch and he has left the details and filling in the colors to the
Legislature. I can guarantee that there are one hundred and five
different ways to finish the picture.

Bills in draft form are trickling into the committees on a variety of
subjects and we will be seeing those in the days ahead. Most of our time
these first few days is looking at agency rules. One of the more
controversial items this year is the rules for naturopaths that have
been two years in the making. Discussions in the Health and Welfare
Committee should prove to be lively.

Our new digs in the Old Ada County courthouse sort of remind of the
story about the philosopher that instructed a crowded family to bring
all of the barnyard animals into the house one at a time. Once inside,
they were told to take them out one at a time and when completed they
found they had lots of room. While it is not what we are used to by any
means, we already seem to be working the kinks out of our new
surroundings. More importantly there are kinks to work out of the
executive budget and I’m sure we’ll see some other controversy along
the way.

After the State of the State, reporters were swarming over the place
trying to get quotes from legislators about the speech. It reminded me
of calving season at home when a calf loses track of its mother and
starts bawling and the whole heard comes running. My reaction? I always
enjoy listening to Governor Otter, and this time was not a
disappointment, at least not the presentation. I do have concerns about
several items. Is a five percent increase in state employee and teacher
salaries the right number? Should we be putting some fifty million
dollars into opportunity scholarships at this time? Those are just a few
concerns, and decisions are never easy.

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