It’s a milestone for the two-year renovation of the state Capitol: The project has been declared “substantially complete,” and the building is now back in the hands of the state, rather than the contractors. There’s still final work and move-in work going on, however; the first state agency to move back in to the renovated historic structure will be Legislative Services, which is moving in over the weekend and will start working in the Capitol on Monday. Then, over the next three weeks, state elected officials including the governor will begin moving their offices back in. Parts of the Capitol still will remain closed during the process; the whole thing will reopen to the public with a rededication ceremony, housewarming and tours on Saturday Jan. 9, starting at noon. The legislative session will kick off in the building the following Monday; click here to see the state’s announcement about the substantial completion.

ITD has corrected the salary figure it supplied to Eye on Boise late yesterday for new Idaho Transportation Director Brian Ness - it’s not $160,000 a year, it’s $165,000. That makes it $22,000 more than the salary paid to the previous director, Pam Lowe.

Idaho’s new state transportation director, Brian Ness, will be paid $160,000 a year, ITD reports. That’s $17,000 more a year than the salary of the previous director, Pam Lowe, who made $143,000.

Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, who’s led work on the ITD budget in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee for the past four years, said, “On the basis of what I’ve read about the new director, I am very pleased, because … it’s my opinion that the head of that department needs to be someone skilled in administration.” That’s more important, he said, than “to hire an engineer. We need an administrator. So that’s what they did - they hired someone with public administration experience, he’s obviously knowledgeable of engineering and highways, and he’s had long experience with legislative issues, so I am very pleased.” The new director, Brian Ness, is a civil engineer who holds a master’s degree in public administration and has worked 12 years as a Michigan DOT administrator. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

The Idaho Fish & Game Commission today extended the state’s wolf hunting seasons in all of its still-open zones to March 31; all but two had been scheduled to close Dec. 31, while the Lolo and Sawtooth zone hunts already were scheduled to go to the end of March. Three of Idaho’s 12 wolf-hunting zones already have closed because their limits have been reached; those are the Dworshak-Elk City zone, the McCall-Weiser zone and the Upper Snake zone in eastern Idaho. Three more zones are nearing their harvest limit, Fish & Game said; those limits haven’t changed. The Palouse-Hells Canyon zone is two short of its limit of five; the Southern Mountains zone is three away from its limit of 10; and the Middle Fork zone is four short of its limit of 17. Statewide, 110 wolves have been shot since the season started; the statewide limit is 220. Hunters are being asked to call (877) 872-3190 to check whether a zone is still open before heading out. Montana ended its wolf hunt on Monday after its limits were nearly reached in all zones and exceeded in one.

Idaho Senate Transportation Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell, had this to say on the appointment today of Michigan transportation official Brian Ness as Idaho’s new transportation director: “I’m excited that we’re heading in a new direction. I’m pleased to see that the process is over, the board has selected a director who seems to be very qualified for the position, and I look forward to working with that director on improving the infrastructure in the state of Idaho.”

McGee said he thinks it’s important that the new director has experience dealing with state legislators. “I think the job of an agency director, of any agency director, can be very complicated. I think having previous experience dealing with the legislature should suit him well in that position.” Asked if he’s still thinking of bringing back the bill he sponsored this year to turn the ITD director into a political appointee of the governor, rather than a professional appointed by the ITD board, McGee said, “I haven’t even thought about it. … I can’t tell you one way or the other. … I’ve been focused on the governor’s transportation task force and trying to come up with new ways to fund the roads that we have.”

Asked why he proposed the bill and then pulled it, McGee said, “Now we’re getting into issues that are being discussed in the lawsuit, and as much as I would like to say something about that topic, because it’s being adjudicated and that’s been referenced in the lawsuit, it’d be inappropriate for me to talk about.” McGee said he has “a lot” to say on that subject, but can’t now because of the court case. Former ITD Director Pam Lowe charges in her wrongful firing lawsuit against the state that ITD board members made a deal with McGee to fire her in exchange for his dropping the bill.

Newly named Idaho Transportation Director Brian Ness, who will start work Jan. 11, told Eye on Boise, “My focus has to be on moving the department forward, and that’s what I intend to do.” Asked why the longtime Michigan transportation official decided to apply for the Idaho post, he said he’s often visited, and has family in the region. “It’s just a nice area of the country to live in,” Ness said. “And when I did the research for the position, the staff was just phenomenal. There’s a lot of good things here going on as an organization that I’d like to be part of.”

Ness, 51, said the “key things that I’m big on” are team work, customer focus and building and developing strong partnerships. Asked how he’ll cope with a department that’s clearly underfunded for the huge task it faces in maintaining the state’s transportation system, he said, “Well, I know there’s a governor’s task force that’s working on that right now, and I think our role, the Idaho Transportation Department, is to give them information that’s accurate, credible and good information so they can use that in formulating what their final recommendations would be to the governor, and then, when that’s completed, we’ll take a look at that and determine where we go for funding transportation in Idaho in the future.”

In his current post as a regional administrator for Michigan DOT, Ness said he’s worked closely with state legislators from his region, a key part of his job as it was for the state’s other six regional administrators. He said what worked for him was “just face-to-face honest communication, a lot of one-on-one communication, just the relationship-building, so that when you talk to them they know you’re credible, that you’re going to do the right thing, that they can take what you say to the bank.” Asked how he’s handled political pressure - a key issue in the dispute over the firing of his predecessor at ITD, Pam Lowe - Ness said, “I just worked very hard to establish credibility with our local elected officials, and if we couldn’t do something based on policy or procedure, my reputation was good enough with them that I was able to say, ‘No, we can’t do that,’ and they understood why and we moved on.”

Yesterday, in response to a request from the Lewiston Morning Tribune, which has been editorializing against Gov. Butch Otter’s silence on the firing of former Transportation Director Pam Lowe and her wrongful-termination lawsuit against the state, Otter issued the following statement:

“I support the decision of the board to remove the former director and go in another direction. The issue over the past legislative session became Pam and ITD, instead of fixing ailing roads and bridges and addressing the backlog of projects to keep Idaho’s roads safe. Over the course of three years Pam never once raised concerns about the contract with me. In the end, despite her claims, Pam was ineffective and lost the faith and confidence of the board, my office and many in the legislature. Our highways and bridges are critical to Idaho. Now more than ever, we need a leader at ITD who can work with the legislature and board to successfully address our infrastructure needs today and into the future.”

The Idaho Transportation Board has named Brian W. Ness, an administrator with the Michigan Department of Transportation, as its new director. Current acting director Scott Stokes will return to his position of deputy director in early January as Ness takes over. Click below to read ITD’s full announcement. Ness, a professional engineer, has both a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in public administration; ITD board Chairman Darrell Manning said, “Ness possesses the professional background, leadership skills, and energy to make an immediate impact on transportation in Idaho. We know that his degree in public administration coupled with his transportation background will serve him well in effectively leading the transportation department.” The move comes after ITD fired former Director Pam Lowe in July; she’s now suing the state for wrongful termination, alleging sex discrimination, political cronyism and more; her lawsuit says the board fired her for refusing to favor a campaign contributor to the governor who holds a hefty ITD contract.

Continue reading ITD names new director »

Idaho’s unemployment rate has notched up again, this time by a tenth of a percentage point to 9 percent, the highest since June of 1983. The U.S. Department of Labor today revised Idaho’s October rate up from the Nov. 6 forecast, based on additional data; a record 67,800 Idahoans are now jobless, with the state’s total employment dropping below 686,000 for the first time since February of 2005. Click below to read the full news release from the Idaho Department of Labor.

Continue reading Idaho unemployment notches up again »

While strolling across downtown Boise in the crisp fall sunshine a few minutes ago, I ran into none other than former Idaho Congressman Bill Sali. Of course, I had to ask him: Is he running again for his old seat in Idaho’s 1st District? “Stay tuned,” Sali responded. Asked how long I should stay tuned, Sali was non-committal, saying until he decides one way or another. As he tried to get in his car and drive away, I asked him why, if he’s still considering running, he raised no campaign funds in the last quarter. “If I don’t run, I don’t want to have to give it back to people and go through all that mess,” Sali responded. “When I’m running, I should raise money, and when I am not, I shouldn’t. That’s the honorable thing.” When I asked him what he plans to do about his remaining campaign debt, which is over $100,000, Sali responded again, “Stay tuned.”

Click below to read the memo Gov. Butch Otter sent to state agencies last week asking them to further trim spending and limit all “non-essential activities wherever possible.” In his luncheon talk to the Associated Taxpayers today, Otter said, “Folks, we are going to have a tough session - it’s going to be tough because, obviously, we don’t have the kind of money that we’ve had in years past.” He noted that the amount of money Idaho will have for its budget next year is comparable to what the state had back in 2003-2004. So he’s told state agency heads to go back and look at what they were doing then. Anything that’s been added since then, he said, should perhaps be eliminated, unless it’s required by law or the constitution. “That wasn’t a mandate - it was a suggestion,” Otter explained after his speech. “That would be the low-hanging fruit.”

He also said cuts are unavoidable. “The only other means is to raise taxes, and I tell you, in this environment I believe there is little appetite in the state legislature,” Otter declared. He went on to directly criticize a proposal from Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, for a temporary income tax surcharge on those earning more than $50,000 a year, as something that could “divide by class warfare,” and said, “I don’t want to see that happening in the state of Idaho. … Those who are successful ought to be celebrated and rewarded. … I resist the effort to start class warfare.” He also derided the idea of temporary tax increases, like the temporary sales tax hike enacted under former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. A year and a half after the temporary tax increase expired, lawmakers decided to raise the tax again, this time permanently, to fund property tax relief. “Let’s be honest about the history,” Otter said. “Putting a new tax on is like getting a tattoo, folks. You don’t get rid of it without some serious trauma.”

Continue reading Otter on budget cuts, taxes… »

Gov. Butch Otter, in his keynote luncheon speech to the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho today, spoke out strongly on the value of education, and how it’s a central mission of the state per the Idaho Constitution. He shared how he was the first among nine siblings to graduate from college, and proudly described the many advanced degrees now held by his own four children, and his hopes for his grandchildren. “So yeah, we’ve got to make some cuts, and yeah, I’ve already made some cuts - and I’ve been pretty careful about how much we damage that future,” Otter declared.

Otter said he’s a “user-pay guy,” and wants people to pay for the services they use, from roads to parks to hunting programs. But that doesn’t apply to education, he said. “There are those areas where the Constitution of the state of Idaho says otherwise.”

Two local government officials, Bannock County Commissioner Steve Hadley and Coeur d’Alene City Councilman Mike Kennedy, are sharing their communities’ budget challenges with the Associated Taxpayers conference. Kennedy said Coeur d’Alene’s budget outlook is a difficult one, but there is one revenue source - income from state liquor sales - that’s up. “Being North Idahoans, we do what we do in a crisis - we drank our way through it,” he said to laughter. Then he said he tested out the theory last night at Bardenay in Boise, and “it’s happening in Ada County too.”

Gov. Butch Otter and state Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna joined business leaders and others at a press conference today to announce a new, broad education strategy for the state, focusing on getting more Idaho kids to go on to post-secondary education, high standards and accountability in public schools, and more. The Idaho Business Coalition for Education Excellence, a group of about 70 CEOs and other business people from throughout the state, brought together education stakeholders in an “Education Alliance” to develop the strategy, dubbed a “transformational education agenda.” “You know you’re on the right track when the teachers and the administrators, the school boards and the parents, the public sector and private industry all come together to focus their collective wisdom, experience and passion on an issue,” Otter said. “I’m happy to be able to facilitate and encourage this effort to create a world-class education system that will enable our students to compete in the global marketplace of ideas.” Otter said the state Board of Education will work with the alliance to try to implement the strategy; you can read the alliance’s full announcement here.

Here’s a news item from AP:  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A group that promotes homegrown Idaho products and services will get to spread out in the recently renovated Capitol, after all. The Capitol Commission, which oversees the building, had passed guidelines restricting public events to the fourth floor. But Buy Idaho typically uses multiple floors for its annual event. It complained the new rules would prevent it from getting the word out about its members’ products. On Wednesday, the Capitol Commission agreed to grant an exception to Buy Idaho, letting it use all four floors of the Capitol rotunda come Feb. 17, the date of its exhibition in 2010. This agreement helped de-escalate a dispute over just who controlled use of the Capitol: The Capitol Commission, the Legislature or the executive branch under Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter.

Budget cuts mean hits on state employees, legislative budget director Cathy Holland-Smith told the ATI conference. “Most of our costs are in personnel … and you can’t avoid that,” she said. So when the state makes budget cuts, “You’re either reducing people’s pay, you’re furloughing them or you’re laying them off.

Among the budget cuts on which Gov. Butch Otter already has decided: He’ll be the only governor next year who won’t be a member of the National Governors Association, his budget chief, Wayne Hammon, just told the ATI conference. “It just costs too much money,” Hammon said. He said in his office, the Division of Financial Management, staffers also will be dropping their national association memberships. Hammon said the federal government’s boost to Medicaid funding through the economic stimulus, which raised the percentage of Medicaid costs the feds covered, was crucial to balancing this year’s budget, and the future of that matching rate affects Idaho’s future budgets. “There’s no way we could’ve balanced the budget last year without this FMAP change,” Hammon said.

In next year’s budget, he said, “You won’t see a lot of new initiatives or projects.” It’s not the time, he said. State employees likely won’t get raises, and there likely will be further cuts in their benefits.

In fiscal year 2009, Idaho’s state general fund revenue was down by 15.3 percent from the year before, exceeding the 2002 drop of 14.3 percent. Wayne Hammon, Gov. Butch Otter’s budget director, told ATI that the forecast for the current year, fiscal year 2010, calls for another drop: Down another 3.6 percent. “That’s the first time since the state switched to annual appropriations in 1971 that that has occurred,” Hammon said. “This is the first time since ‘71 that we’ve had two negative years in a row.” He then ran down the big budget cuts many state agencies already took for this fiscal year, before Otter imposed additional holdbacks in September; and the additional cuts that came with the holdbacks. “There are less troopers on the road today,” Hammon said. “There are less prison guards … they’ve had to restructure how we maintain our prisons. We’re to the point where the cuts have started to have real impact.”

Now, more cuts loom. Hammon said that late last week, Otter sent a memo to all state agency heads, “and told them to prepare for additional cuts … not to make any spending unless it was absolutely necessary, not to fill positions unless they have an emergency situation, and to prepare for further holdbacks. Will that happen? We’re not sure.” The state will know in December, he said.

Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, said he has to “violently agree” with Rep. James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, that Idaho can’t just “play defense” in its budget cuts, and must focus on job creation. “That’s what’s going to dig us out of this hole,” Fulcher said.

Rep. James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, the House assistant minority leader, said tax cuts in recent years have helped put the state in the revenue crunch it’s in right now. “There’s millions of tax revenue dollars that we don’t have now that we desperately need,” Ruchti told the ATI conference. “My guess is the votes would have come out much differently if we knew then what we know now.” He added to some laughter, “I think it’s very important, whenever you get a chance, to say I told you so.”

Ruchti said lawmakers need to look to create and retain jobs, not just make cuts. “We can’t just play defense,” he said. “I am especially concerned about cuts to higher education.” This year’s budget debates, he said, “are not going to be easy decisions, and I think Sen. Fulcher and I are in agreement on that.”

Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, the Senate majority caucus chairman, told the ATI conference just now that lawmakers this year will be looking at difficult budget cuts in the very areas where people most don’t want them - education and health services. “Everything is on the table,” he said. “The one thing I will guarantee you is we will make someone mad.” He said much of Idaho’s state budget goes to education and health and welfare. “The overall budget forecast is more than 20 percent less than what we budgeted against 18 months ago. … Folks, you have to touch education, and you have to touch health services. It simply is mathematical.”

He also said to expect talk of consolidating or merging state agencies, such as the Commission on Aging and the Hispanic Commission, and about consolidating some of Idaho’s 113 school districts. But he doesn’t foresee a tax increase. “I just do not see the collective appetite,” Fulcher said. “I just don’t see it happening.”

Hundreds of business people, government employees, legislators and more are gathered in Boise this morning for the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho annual conference, which is traditionally something of a warm-up for the legislative session that kicks off in January. The program opened with a national expert, Eileen Sherr of the American Institute of CPAs, giving an update on federal tax policy and the state of the federal budget - grim - and Joseph Crosby, head of a trade association that tracks tax policy for large multistate businesses, talking about how the tax climate is changing in states due to recession-driven budget crunches. “A lot of the states that are relying on personal income taxes are seeing dramatic underperformance in those taxes,” Crosby told the conference. Some states are turning to sales tax rate increases, which he said are “the easiest way to get money in the door quickly.” With the federal economic stimulus - which saved Idaho from drastic state budget cuts this year - Crosby said in the first quarter of this year, the federal government became the largest funding source for state government, something that had never happened before.

Gov. Butch Otter’s “efficiency” Web site, which asks Idahoans for their ideas on how the state can save money, has received 112 suggestions as of this morning, according to Otter’s press secretary, Jon Hanian. “We know people have a lot of ideas and opinions about what the state should or shouldn’t be doing, and so I think we certainly expected there was going to be a good deal of interest,” Hanian said. “So far, that’s been the case.” The site was just launched on Friday.

Continue reading Idaho settles grazing lease lawsuit »

Idaho’s state Land Board approved a land swap with Avista Corp. today that’ll give the utility land at Trestle Creek near Hope, which it’ll use for a bull trout restoration project, in exchange for some easier-to-log rolling timberland a few miles away that the state endowment would rather have. Avista wants the Trestle Creek land as part of its ongoing mitigation efforts for relicensing the Cabinet Gorge and Noxon Rapids dams, on which it’s spending $5 million a year for 45 years; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick today unveiled job-training legislation he said he’s been crafting for the past eight months. The measure, H.R. 4072, entitled the American Manufacturing Efficiency and Retraining Investment Collaboration (AMERICA) Works Act, would route federal workforce training funds toward programs that provide “nationally portable, industry-recognized credentials,” and make other reforms to the programs without expanding their cost. It won praise from North Idaho College, the Northwest Carpenters and the National Association of Manufacturers, whose senior vice president, Emily DeRocco, said it would “help ensure both new and transitioning workers have the education and skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century manufacturing economy.” You can read Minnick’s full news release on the bill here; the Democratic freshman has three cosponsors so far, all fellow Democrats.

Idaho’s first-ever female transportation director was fired, in part, simply for being a woman, a lawsuit filed today charges. Pam Lowe, who last week filed a “whistleblower” complaint against the state alleging that she was fired for resisting political pressure to favor a big campaign donor to Gov. Butch Otter, filed an amended complaint today bringing in six additional claims for violating her rights under both the U.S. and Idaho constitutions.

“Her gender was specifically referenced as a reason that she should not be promoted and/or that she would not be successful,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. Lowe’s gender was a contributing factor to the board’s decision to terminate her employment, in violation of the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution.” Lowe’s legal filing in 4th District Court in Boise repeats her earlier allegation that Idaho Transportation Board member Gary Blick of Twin Falls said “no little girl would be able to run this department, or words to that effect” and asked, “What are we going to do when she decides to start a family?” But Lowe, a professional engineer and 15-year department employee, said that wasn’t the only instance of gender discrimination she suffered at the department. “I have some other information that I think will probably come out as part of the trial process,” she told The Spokesman-Review.

Lowe’s six additional claims charge that the state Transportation Board violated both the U.S. and the Idaho state constitutions in three different ways: By engaging in sex discrimination, violating her right to equal protection; by firing her without citing any of the statutory reasons why a transportation director can be fired and without allowing her a hearing, violating her right to due process; and by impugning her good name with “false allegations of unsatisfactory job performance,” hurting her professional reputation and “foreclosing other employment opportunities.” You can read my full story here at spokesman.com, and read her amended complaint here.

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says Idahoans who had trouble canceling their Vonage Voice Over Internet Protocol service may be eligible for refunds, as part of a new multistate legal settlement. Consumers with unresolved complaints dating back to January 2004 may be eligible; they must file written complaints with the AG’s office by March 16, 2010. More information, including complaint forms, is available online here.

Wasden said the company had been paying incentives to customer service representatives to convince customers not to cancel their accounts, and customers reported pressure that made it difficult to cancel. “When a contract allows a consumer to cancel within a certain time period, consumers have a right and are entitled to exercise that right without undue obstacles thrown up by the other contracting party,” Wasden said.  “Consumers who were hurt will be able to obtain redress and the problems we saw ought not continue in the future.” As part of the $3 million multistate settlement, the company agreed to reform its marketing practices.

Here’s a link to my full story from Saturday’s Spokesman-Review on the latest on Idaho’s state budget crunch, from Gov. Butch Otter appealing for money-saving ideas from citizens to Moscow Democratic Rep. Shirley Ringo’s proposal for a 5 percent income tax surcharge to stave off deep cuts in services. Senate President Pro-Tem Bob Geddes had this reaction to Ringo’s proposal: “I can’t imagine that would sell well right now.”