On tonight's “Idaho Reports,” I join BSU political scientist emeritus Jim Weatherby, Lewiston Tribune reporter Bill Spence, Twin Falls Times-News reporter Melissa Davlin and host Greg Hahn to discuss the events of the week in the Legislature, from Occupy amendments to this morning's JFAC public hearing. The hour-long program also features Weatherby's comments on the death today of Micron Technology CEO Steve Appleton; Hahn's interview with JFAC Co-Chairs Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, and Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome; reporter Aaron Kunz's report on the issues surrounding oil and gas exploration legislation; and more. The show airs tonight at 8 p.m. on Idaho Public Television; it repeats Sunday at 11 a.m. Mountain time, 10 a.m. Pacific; and will be replayed on Boise State Public Radio on Sunday at 6 p.m. After it airs, “Idaho Reports” also can be viewed online at www.idahoptv.org/idreports/.

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and First Lady Lori Otter issued the following statement on the death today of Micron Technology CEO Steve Appleton:

“Idaho has lost a true champion, a great friend, and a visionary businessman. Steve was someone who understood the value as well as the cost of excellence. He lived life to the fullest, and while he enjoyed great success in business and in life, he never lost his intensity or his drive. Our hearts go out to his wife Dalynn and the rest of his family – including his extended family at Micron Technology and the many lives he touched throughout the world.”

In a state Legislature that used to be filled with clouds of cigarette smoke, there's now only one state lawmaker who regularly steps outside for a smoke: Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene. There also are a scattering of cigar aficionados, a few discreet chewing-tobacco users and at least one pipe smoker, reports AP reporter John Miller, but far fewer legislators smoke than even the 16 percent of Idaho adults who puff cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Miller reports that the Capitol's dwindling population of tobacco users today stands in stark contrast to the 1970s, when smoking was so prevalent even inveterate abstainers gladly suspended House Rule 40 — the one forbidding smoking on the floor — just to keep business moving. Click below for Miller's full report.

Here's the backstory behind the numerous calls at today's budget hearing for funding a state suicide prevention hotline: Idaho's previous hotline closed at the end of 2006 for lack of funding. Since then, various locally funded hotlines around the country have volunteered to temporarily take Idaho calls; currently, Idaho calls are being answered by a locally funded community hotline in Oregon. However, they have less access to local referrals in Idaho to help callers, and funding there is becoming a problem. Meanwhile, news stats, based on 2009 data - the most recent - came out this week showing that Idaho's suicide rate has jumped up to fourth in the nation. Kathie Garrett, chair of the Idaho Council on Suicide Prevention, said, “Idaho consistently ranks in the top 10 states for our suicide rate, but the ranking of four is higher than we've experienced.” Previously Idaho ranked sixth.

There's been an effort in the works to re-establish a suicide prevention hotline in Idaho, including efforts by the council, the Suicide Prevention Action Network, the Veterans Service Administration, ISU, United Way, the state Department of Health & Welfare and more. JFAC members quizzed Health & Welfare officials about the issue during budget hearings in January. Ross Edmunds, division administrator for behavioral health, told them, “The department is working closely with the Council on Suicide Prevention and United Way to create a suicide hotline in Idaho. My division has offered up some funds. I have about $50,000 in funds through our federal block grant that we've spent in the past on suicide prevention activities, a lot of that has been research and investigating evidence-based programs through a contractor. We're going to redirect that. … I'm very hopeful we'll have one relatively soon.”

Garrett said the council's goal is to raise at least two years' worth of funding “so we can be assured that a hotline would not be opened one year and closed the next.” She said, “We want to be sure that when Idahoans call the hotline, the telephone is answered.” Garrett said the National Guard has agreed to furnish free space to house the hotline, and the Jeret “Speedy” Petersen Foundation has offered a $10,000 donation. Mountain States Group has agreed to operate the hotline once funding is secured.

Though state lawmakers and Gov. Butch Otter haven't been enthusiastic about the idea of privatizing state liquor sales thus far, a new poll commissioned by the Northwest Grocery Association shows a majority of Idahoans favoring the idea. The statewide poll, which queried 500 Idahoans and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent, was conducted Jan. 9-11 by Moore Information of Portland, Ore. Here's the question and answers:

“Recently there has been discussion about privatizing the distribution and sale of liquor in Idaho, so that liquor would be distributed by private wholesalers, the state government liquor stores would be closed, and liquor would be sold entirely by private grocery and retail stores. Which one of the following statements comes closest to your view about this?”

• “I support closing the state liquor stores and allowing liquor to be sold in certain grocery and retail stores” - 57 percent
• “I feel that Idaho should keep the current state liquor store system in place” - 36 percent
• None - 3 percent
• Not sure/don't know/undecided - 4 percent

Pollster Bob Moore, in a memo summarizing the results, wrote, “Based on these data, it appears that Idaho voters are receptive to proposals to privatize liquor sales and distribution, and passage of a liquor privatization law in Idaho is a real possibility.” The grocers had considered sponsoring an initiative to that effect in Idaho this year, but decided instead to wait and pursue possible legislation this year or next year; meanwhile, the Idaho Federation of Reagan Republicans has launched signature-gathering for its own liquor-privatization initiative.

A federal judge has rejected a challenge from environmental groups seeking to force the federal government to take immediate action to increase protections for the sage grouse; such a move could have curtailed new energy production on public lands across the West, the AP reports. Click below for a full report from AP reporter Ben Neary in Cheyenne.

KTVB-TV is reporting that Micron Technology CEO Steve Appleton was killed in a plane crash at the Boise airport this morning; you can see their full report here. Appleton has owned more than 20 airplanes and was a stunt pilot who survived another crash in 2004 in the Idaho desert. The Associated Press reported that a small plane, an experimental fixed-wing single-engine Lancair, crashed just before 9 a.m. today, and that Ada County dispatch reported it received reports of a small plane that was on fire before it landed. The airport remained open with one runway in use. Micron's board released this statement, saying, “Our hearts go out to his wife, Dalynn, his children and his family during this tragic time. Steve's passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large.” Appleton was 51; he is survived by his wife and four children. Click below for a full report from the Associated Press.

The Idaho Senate has voted 31-2 in favor of SB 1243, to limit future specialty license plates to government purposes or foundations that support them. Last year, similar legislation passed the Senate 31-3, but was defeated in the House on a 21-47 vote. At the same time, last year's Legislature created two new specialty license plates, one for veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, and another to benefit the Idaho Aviation Foundation. SB 1243 now moves to the House side.

Senate Transportation Chairman Jim Hammond told the Senate that there are now more than 30 specialty license plates, raising $1.6 million a year. The biggest single chunk was from wildlife plates, which are the most popular and benefit Idaho Fish & Game, but Hammond said the remaining $778,000 goes to “various organizations, from the Appaloosa Horse Club to the Valley Corvettes,” and he contended there's insufficient accounting for the funds. “Government ought not be in the fundraising business for private organizations,” Hammond said.

Hammond said his bill, SB 1243, would grandfather in existing specialty plates, and would allow new ones if they're related to a government purpose. Under questioning from other senators, he said his bill wouldn't preclude the currently pending bill for a sesquicentennial plate commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Idaho Territory, with funds going to local historical societies.

As the Senate prepares to debate SB 1243 this morning, Sen. Jim Hammond's bill to limit future special license plates to just public agencies or the foundations that support them, another special license plate bill already has been introduced this week in the House. That plate, sponsored by Lewiston Reps. John Rusche and Jeff Nessett, would be in honor of the sesquicentennial - the 150th anniversary - of the creation of Idaho Territory, and funds raised by it would go to local historical societies in the counties where plates are purchased.

JFAC members came away from this morning's hearing deeply moved by the testimony, and several said they anticipate budget changes as a result. “We can see now that perhaps some of those choices, there was a human element that needs to be addressed, to go back and look if we can do that,” said Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, JFAC co-chair. Bell said she hopes to “go back now and try to pick up some of these frayed edges.” She said, “I'm thinking what we do is pick up the places that we didn't quite fill our core responsibilities first … and then perhaps, down the road, we'll be able to do some savings later on.” Bell also said she was struck by concerns raised about state employee pay. “That is another issue of grave concern to us, the morale,” she said. “We know we've asked them to do more with less, they've had furloughs. … That's something that we need to take a serious look at this year.”

Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, said of today's testimony, “It's reflective of the things I've been hearing throughout the year. … I think there's three or four areas that are really important to look at, and I'm hopeful was can find some funding to restore at least some of them.” She mentioned dental coverage for Medicaid recipients, a suicide hotline, and limits on therapy hours, especially for children, among top concerns.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, JFAC's Senate vice-chair, said, “I think it's important that we hear from folks whose lives have been impacted by the decisions that we've made. …  It helps to put a human face on our budget decisions.”

Idaho Department of Environmental Quality Director Toni Hardesty is leaving her post to become the new director of the Nature Conservancy in Idaho, the conservation organization announced today; she'll start her new job Feb. 27. Hardesty has headed the Idaho DEQ since 2004, serving under three governors. At the Nature Conservancy, she'll focus on “collaborative projects that protect land and water for nature and people.” Click here for the full announcement from the Nature Conservancy.
  

Close to 60 people testified at this morning's public hearing on the state budget; more than 40 addressed concerns, often very personal ones, about funding for Medicaid and Health & Welfare programs; more than half a dozen spoke out for establishing a state suicide prevention hotline, including parents who have lost children to suicide; nearly as many spoke about education funding; and several expressed concerns about state employee compensation.

Closing the hearing, JFAC Co-Chair Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, said quietly, “We thank you for coming and participating, and we have heard your message.” From the audience, a woman called out, “Thank you!”

Among the testimony from the public at this morning's public hearing on the state budget:

Mary Rumple, mother of a son with disabilities, told the lawmakers, “He will live most of his life without me to care for him. … Please consider that individuals with special needs are not just going to go away if you cut their services.”

Briana LeClaire of the Idaho Freedom Foundation said her group proposes an alternative state budget with $125 million in tax cuts and virtually no increases in spending. “One of the best things the Legislature can do to improve the quality of life in Idaho is by allowing Idahoans to keep more of their own money,” she said. She decried the “K-12 education monopoly” and said, “Real school choice where public money would follow the child to the school providing the service would be an education miracle cure.”

Sharon McWilliams of Boise said, “I've got a disability, my hand shakes real bad. I can't fix my meals by myself.” Help from an aide allows her to prepare meals, she said. “If we don't have her, I don't know what we'll do. I'm just asking you not to cut any more off the Medicaid program.”

Marilyn Sword of the Developmental Disabilities Council noted that Gov. Butch Otter has called for using Idaho's “modest surplus” for some additional funds to public schools, higher education, tax relief, reserves, and one-time bonuses for state employees, but not to restore Medicaid cuts. “Moving a modest amount of these surplus funds to restore reductions made last year to Medicaid would make good economic sense,” she said. “For every dollar in state funds, Idaho receives another $2.30 in federal funds.” The result would be jobs and an economic boost as well as addressing health problems and preserving dignity for the vulnerable, she said.
  

“I want to thank the committee for listening to all the people who came today,” Howard Belodoff, the attorney in the Jeff D lawsuit over state mental health services to children, told JFAC at this morning's budget hearing. “I've been waiting 30 years to come to you and tell you that these children need services, mental health services, and those services need to be in the community in which they live. .. Over the last few years, drastic cuts have been made.”

Belodoff said, “They are telling parents, 'Take your kids to juvenile corrections, charge them, bring them into court, and then we'll serve them.'” The result, he said: “A 3,000 percent increase since fiscal year 2007 in the number served through the courts.” Belodoff brandished Health & Welfare documents about the changes and said, his voice rich with emotion, “Please, take a look at the budget.”

Penni Cyr, president of the Idaho Education Association, urged lawmakers to “keep educators whole before refilling the rainy-day fund.” She said, “We believe now is not the time to refill the state's rainy-day accounts or to make it a priority.” Cyr said the IEA is “glad that Supt. Luna realizes the need to ensure teachers do not suffer” from the salary funding cuts mandated by his Students Come First reforms, and is proposing “backfilling” next year's portion with other funds, but she said she's concerned about the next four years of cuts to salary funds the reform laws require. “This ongoing uncertainty is why the IEA and our allies will urge Idaho voters to overturn the three reforms on the ballot this November, so schools do not face this funding cliff each year,” she said.

Alex Neiwirth, with the Idaho Association of Government Employees, said as the economy improves and brings more job prospects elsewhere, “State employees will be jumping ship in droves. They want a job where they don't lose ground to inflation year after year.” Neiwirth said, “Morale is very low.” He urged support for across-the-board cost-of-living raises for state employees, rather than tax cuts, which he described as “giving away $40 million to top earners on an ongoing basis.”

Dakotah Parsons, a youngster from Victor with autism, told lawmakers, “My PSR worker … is my best friend.” But the hours he's being paid are being cut, the boy said. “I live in a small town and there are not many workers to be my helper.” He said he wants to “continue to learn and grow up and be a scientist. I am an honor roll student. I try really hard to do my best. Please help me.” His mom, Debra Parsons, said she also has an 18-year-old daughter with autism. “She has grown out of all the services available to her, still needs them, isn't entitled to them any more. … She has a mouth full of braces that we just got started on.” But now, with Medicaid cuts, she no longer has non-emergency dental coverage. “The cuts to the Medicaid budget have been devastating to a lot of the people in my community.”
  

Several who have testified this morning at the public hearing on the state budget have fought back tears as they spoke, describing the pain of family members who went without services. Lori Olsen of St. Anthony told how her brother, unable to get appropriate treatment for his mental illness, committed suicide. “Dan's actions were of someone crying out for help, not someone wanting to commit suicide,” she said, her voice breaking.

Katherine Hansen, representing the Consortium of Idahoans with Disabilities, asked JFAC to restore two specific cuts made under last year's HB 260 that trimmed Medicaid benefits and services. “Idaho is now facing a budget surplus,” she said. “You have many options of where to allocate those dollars.” She said $1.8 million in state funds restored to Medicaid could pay for reversing cuts to job-coaching services to adults with disabilities that are forcing many to cut back their hours or lose their jobs, and for reversing a cut that forces people with both mental illness and development disabilities to choose just one of those conditions to treat.

Rebekah Casey of Hayden said, “My husband and I have adopted two children through the foster care system. My daughter has been receiving PSR services for almost two years now.” The youngster struggles, she said. “Without the PSR services … we would not have been able to maintain her in our home.” Over the summer, Casey said, her daughter suffered a crisis, and was unable to obtain additional psycho-social rehabilitation services due to the new 5-hour cap on such services for children. “Instead we were forced to consider medicating our 4-year-old daughter, when therapy services would have been sufficient,” Casey told lawmakers. In addition, she said, “I have been forced to choose which one of my son's issues I need to treat. It's a difficult choice for a parent to make - how do you decide which one is more important?”
  

As the testimony continues at this morning's public hearing on the state budget:

Jason Lowry of Nampa said last year's Medicaid cuts were supposed to be temporary because of the state budget crunch, but “unfortunately” were written into state law and made permanent. He urged legislative budget writers to restore cuts to services for people with developmental disabilities.

John Kihara of Pocatello told the committee he recently spent three weeks in a psychiatric ward after his preventive services were cut, costing the state $48,000; it would have been cheaper, he said, to continue preventive services. “When my depression gets this bad, it is a horrible state to be in,” he said. “Preventative services, like PSR, help me maintain my mental health. Without the level of support I need I will probably end up in the hospital again.”

Brian Hulet of Boise said he thought lawmakers hadn't learned the full story of the result of cuts they've made. “That full story includes people whose lives are put in jeopardy, whose lives are drastically changed,” he said. “I ask that you take a look at the people who are being affected by the cuts.”

Melissa Machacek, mother of a six-year-old son with serious disabilities, said, “I respectfully suggest that the committee replace money into the Medicaid program, and not into a rainy-day fund as suggested by Gov. Otter.”

Rick Stover told the lawmakers he was deployed overseas with the military when he received a stunning call from his wife: Their 19-year-old son had just been found dead of a gunshot wound. “I pray that no parents ever have to bear the pain of losing their child, especially to suicide.” Stover said his son, Nick, was an Eagle Scout at 13, a varsity football player, a person full of life. “Nick's suicide made me realize one thing and that is it could happen to anyone,” Stover said. “I can't say for certain if there was a suicide prevention hotline it would have saved Nick's life, but it is a step in the right direction.”
  

Jim Baugh of Disability Rights Idaho told JFAC, “Medicaid cuts don't necessarily lead to savings. Sometimes they just lead to lawsuits, and sometimes the lawsuits are more expensive than the savings.” He noted two lawsuits the state already has lost in the past year over cuts, that are costing the state millions.

Emily Walton told the joint committee, “We're concerned about the issue of equity in higher education funding. … Now I'm just a girl from Declo, but when I look at the numbers … I don't see how we can describe this current situation as fair. … The students at Boise State want to graduate just like at any university in Idaho, but sometimes they can't get the classes that they need.”

Kelly Hardy of Kuna described the situation of a young man with autism for whom she cares; he was institutionalized for years, costing the state millions, but wants to continue now to live on his own. “Say no to additional cuts in Medicaid services,” she urged the lawmakers, asking them to restore coverage for non-emergency dental services and increase funding for crisis services.

Joe Raiden of Moscow told JFAC his son suffered an abscess, went to the emergency room and was just given pain medicine and sent home. “Preventive dental care is important to find out problems before they get out of hand,” he said.

Noll Garcia of Boise, speaking from his power wheelchair, said, “I am very concerned that my budget will be cut resulting in less staff to keep me safe in my apartment and in my community, to do the things that are meaningful in my life. To help you understand, I have cerebral palsy, and it is not going away. I am happy with who I am and am not looking for a cure. All that being said, I still need support, and will always need support. …My closest relative lives 120 miles away.”

First to testify at this morning's public hearing on the state budget was Shelly Rambo, who highlighted the “need for a statewide suicide hotline.” Rambo, who was raised in Grangeville and now lives in Boise, said, her voice breaking, that she was diagnosed at age 33 with clinical depression, and at 38 was diagnosed as bipolar. “Living with bipolar illness can lead me down a path of pain and suicidal thoughts,” she said. “However … I have the tools and access to address my symptoms. We need your support, we need that hotline. …  In rural Idaho they have no access, no medical help, no resources. We need that statewide hotline for them.”