Here’s a link to former ITD Director Pam Lowe’s whistleblower complaint filed in 4th District Court today, in her wrongful firing lawsuit against the state. The complaint includes this quote from Lowe’s last performance evaluation: “Mrs. Lowe has quickly taken charge of the Department. She excelled in reviewing the conditions of the department’s functions and making needed changes in personnel, functions, and organization. … She identified over $50 million in savings that will be directed to improved highway operations. Mrs. Lowe is an excellent manager and has exceptional ability as a professional engineer. In this rating period she has completed all assignments made by the Transportation Board.”

Idaho Rep. Walt Minnick says he’ll vote against the big health care reform bill that’s coming up for a vote in the House. Click below to read his statement.

Continue reading Minnick to vote against health care reform bill in the House »

Fired Idaho Transportation Director Pam Lowe is suing the state, after it never responded to her wrongful firing tort claim alleging sex discrimination, political cronyism and more. Her legal complaint includes explosive new allegations about political pressure, which the head of the Idaho Transportation Board immediately disputed. “I filed that tort claim in good conscience and in good faith, looking for answers and looking for resolution,” Lowe told The Spokesman-Review, “and was disappointed that they chose not to respond in any way, at least yet. And I’m left with no choice but to file this lawsuit.” You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

Idaho lawmakers would be foolish and premature to try to either opt out of federal health care reforms or, following Arizona’s lead, change the state’s constitution to try to keep reforms out, lawmakers of both parties concluded today after hours of testimony.  “It’s premature - opt out of what?” said Sen. Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston. Said Rep. Gary Collins, R-Nampa, “It would be foolish to do something like that.” House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, called any such moves “extremely premature.”

The Idaho Legislature’s health care task force, which includes both senators and representatives from both parties, invited insurers, underwriters, representatives of doctors and hospitals, the AARP and more to give presentations on whether Idaho should opt out of national reforms or change its constitution, and what reforms would help the state. None of the presenters favored either move.

Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, who co-chairs the task force with Collins, said some Idaho legislators are working on a constitutional amendment. “I am told that there are legislators that are considering it,” he said. “I think we heard pretty clearly that it’s, A, premature, and B, may not be the most effective way of us stating our opinion of whatever the health care reform may be.”

Opting out of a public option likely wouldn’t mean that a state could simply do nothing, Scott Leavitt of the Idaho Association of Health Underwriters warned lawmakers. Instead, states that opt out likely would have to show they’re offering something better. “You have a lot of work to do if you opt out,” he told lawmakers.

Alex LaBeau, head of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, told lawmakers that he doesn’t think much of federal health care reforms being debated in Congress, but his group isn’t recommending opting out. “With most of these proposals, essentially we’re punishing 85 percent of Americans for the benefit of 15 percent of Americans,” he said. “That’s the problem with what’s going on in Washington, D.C.” Simply improving reimbursement levels to private providers for Medicare and Medicaid would be “one reform that Congress should look at,” LaBeau said. “We do need some reforms. I don’t think Idaho can say that we’re taking our marbles and going home.” The state and Idaho businesses should engage in the national debate, he said. “Whether or not we get any reform this year or next year or the year after, something has to happen.”

David Irwin, director of communications for AARP Idaho, told lawmakers on the health care task force that Idaho could face “unintended consequences” if it decides to opt out of federal health care reform. “A move to opt out could reduce or cut federal relief for our state’s increasing number of uninsured,” he said, noting that a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study showed that nearly 88 percent of Idaho’s 221,000 uninsured residents have jobs, and 75 percent have full-time jobs. “The reality is many don’t have health care because it costs too much,” he said.

“Opting out could vastly reduce Idaho’s bargaining power for better health care prices, as opposed to being part of a national purchasing pool that can negotiate lower prices,” Irwin told lawmakers.

Among the items being discussed in the congressional health care debate, NCSL health policy director Joy Wilson told Idaho lawmakers, is extending the boost to the federal match for Medicaid funding that came with the economic stimulus legislation for an additional six months. That would be a big deal for states that otherwise will need to fund a big jump in Medicaid costs when the stimulus money is gone. Wilson said that issue could be in the health reform bill, or in a separate bill.

Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, asked Wilson to “handicap” the chances that a health care reform bill will pass. “I’m covering less than 50-50 now,” she responded. “The Senate seems to be pretty split, the Senate Democrats, and so that’s a real problem. The surprise is that the speaker doesn’t have her votes locked up either. I think I was 60-40 before - I’m not there any more.” She added, “I want to believe that before it fails, somebody is going to blink. … It is a little troubling that they’re this close to going to the floor in the House, and they’re acknowledging that they’re short of sufficient votes.”

Rep. Gary Collins, R-Nampa, co-chairman of the Idaho Legislature’s health care task force, said, “Just like everything we’re hearing, it’s all over the board.”

The Idaho Legislature’s health care task force has interrupted its panel discussion on whether Idaho should opt out of federal health care reform for a conference call with the National Conference of State Legislatures on the status of federal reform legislation. “There is still a lot of negotiation going on, a lot of posturing,” Joy Wilson of NCSL told the Idaho lawmakers. “So there are no done deals yet with health care reform.” She said the House has a Democratic bill and a Republican alternative, but “on the Senate side, things are a lot more fluid.” As for the prospect of any opt-out provisions for states, “To date I have not found anyone that knew what anyone would be opting out of or how we would go about it,” Wilson said. “The Senate language may not be available until the 16th.” That may mean the congressional debate runs past the holidays into January, she said.

Susie Pouliot, CEO of the Idaho Medical Association, told lawmakers just now that “with all due respect, it is very difficult to pin down the pros and cons” to Idaho of possibly opting out of national health reform measures, when federal legislation hasn’t been finalized. “I hope you don’t think this is too much of a cop-out,” she said. Idaho doctors are on both sides of the issue on whether there should be a public option insurance plan, she said, but a majority of the IMA has come out against that prospect. “We very strongly support universal coverage and access to health care,” she said, ” … not necessarily a single-payer system.” She added, “Part of our discussion is if we had everyone covered tomorrow, would we have an adequate physician population” to treat all those patients. Unfortunately, she said, the answer is no. “We are woefully low,” and rank 50th among states for doctor-to-patient ratio, she said. The IMA backs increased medical education and training and other measures to increase the number of doctors in the state.

The Medicaid shortfall that Idaho could face next year could require cutting as much as $500 million out of the state’s Medicaid program, Idaho Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong told the Legislature’s health care task force today, including $130 million in state funds. There are already about $75 million in cuts in Medicaid in the works to save money, from cutting rates paid to hospitals and nursing homes to trimming mental health benefits; if the larger shortfall materialized, those cuts would be just the tip of the iceberg. “Some of this is rather bad health policy, but we don’t have a choice at this point - we have to have a balanced budget,” Armstrong told lawmakers. “There will be lawsuits, there will be challenges. … As we look ahead, we are clearly very concerned about this all. This is a huge change that has to be made, and it will not be easy.”

Those figures are based on a projection that the federal match rate for Medicaid - now boosted by the economic stimulus legislation to 79.18 percent, or nearly 80 cents in federal money for every 20 cents the state spends - will drop to 68.85 percent in 2011. That’d force Idaho to come up with millions more to fund the program, and anything for which the state can’t fund the match would have to be eliminated. It’s possible that the federal match rate might not drop after all, but Armstrong said Idaho won’t know until long after it’s had to set its state budget. “We have to put a budget forward based on what we know now,” he said. Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, said that approach means “trying to make the most-vulnerable people, basically, pay to balance the budget.” Medicaid provides health coverage for Idaho’s poorest and disabled residents.

So far, Idaho has been allocated 165,200 doses of H1N1 swine flu, state epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn reported to lawmakers this morning. Normally, about a third of the state’s 1.5 million residents are vaccinated for seasonal flu. Hahn said even if that were the goal - and the state would like to vaccinate many more residents than that - “we are nowhere near.”

After the Idaho Republican Party took the unusual step of passing a central committee resolution backing party involvement in non-partisan city races, one county’s GOP central committee endorsed a challenger, Alex Creek, in a city council race in Idaho Falls; some party activists portrayed a Boise City Council race as partisan because one candidate, T.J. Thomson, was a key organizer for Barack Obama’s Idaho campaign; and a non-official GOP group endorsed and campaigned for a city council challenger, Jim Brannon, against councilman Mike Kennedy in Coeur d’Alene. The result: Creek lost 2-1; Thomson won handily; and Kennedy won by five votes.

This morning, Idaho GOP Chairman Norm Semanko held a press conference call with reporters to “discuss the 2009 elections and what they mean for Idaho in 2010.” But Semanko focused on the outcome of governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey, both of which were won by Republicans. “Americans soundly rejected the big-government policies of President Obama and the Democrats,” Semanko said. “There’s no other way to interpret the numbers.” Republicans also lost a seat in Congress in a special election in New York, but Semanko dismissed that as a special case and a “non-story.”

As for the Idaho races, Semanko said, “No. 1, they’re nonpartisan races, so nobody had an elephant or a donkey next to their name, so it’s really hard to even analyze it from that perspective. People were focused in different races on different local issues.” He said the state party has responded to the central committee resolution by leaving any moves up to local county party organizations. “We would never jump in over the top of the local party and suggest what they should be doing,” Semanko said.

Coeur d’Alene city attorney Mike Gridley says the campaign finance law that Sen. Mike Jorgenson may have violated when he ran a $1,090 ad for Coeur d’Alene city council challenger Jim Brannon is a state law, not a city ordinance. Idaho Code 67-6610A limits contributions by an individual, corporation or political committee to $1,000 each for the primary and general elections; that limit applies to legislative, city, county or district judge races. A violation can bring a civil fine of up to $250, and potentially criminal penalties if it was a knowing violation. “It sounds like he is claiming that he didn’t know,” Gridley said. “All we’re doing is enforcing Idaho Code that our fine Legislature has passed, and that’s applicable to all elections.” However, the limit may not apply if Jorgenson’s ad is considered an independent expenditure; if that’s the case, the disclosure reports he’s arranging to file with the city may clear up the violation.

“We won’t know until we get his filing,” Gridley said. “If it’s an independent expenditure, he’s not limited by the thousand dollar amount. If he coordinates it with a campaign, then it is a contribution to that campaign, and it would violate the $1,000 and would need to be reflected on the candidate’s sunshine report, too.” Jorgenson said he did the ad on his own; he told Eye on Boise he got the list of roughly 50 campaign supporters to list in the ad from Brannon’s campaign. “I got it through his campaign headquarters - it’s available to anybody that walks in there,” Jorgenson said. “I just called them.”

Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, says he didn’t mean to violate campaign finance laws when he placed an ad for Coeur d’Alene City Council challenger Jim Brannon, and he’s working with Coeur d’Alene City Clerk Susan Weathers to clear the matter up. “I was just on the phone with Susan,” Jorgenson told Eye on Boise in a conversation at a Boise coffee shop. The North Idaho senator is in town working on business related to the Idaho Indian Affairs Council, which he chairs.

Jorgenson spent $1,090.80 to run a flier in the Coeur d’Alene Press touting Brannon and including a list of Brannon’s supporters. But the limit for campaign contributions is $1,000, and he filed no independent expenditure report and no 48-hour report of a last-minute campaign expenditure over $1,000, as required. “So help me, if I had of known, I would’ve not spent $1,090 - I would’ve spent $995,” Jorgenson told Eye on Boise. “Had I known that I was doing anything that even approached a violation, I would’ve done it differently and I wouldn’t have spent as much money.” He added, “If I was trying to be secretive about it, I wouldn’t have put my name on the ad, the name of my business. So if I made a boo-boo, it was inadvertent.” Click below to read more.

Continue reading Jorgenson: ‘I made a boo-boo’ »

It was a little surprising to get a media advisory today that Idaho GOP Chairman Norm Semanko will hold a press conference call tomorrow morning “to discuss the 2009 elections and what they mean for Idaho in 2010,” because Idaho’s 2009 elections - today is Election Day - are all non-partisan, municipal races. Jonathan Parker, state GOP executive director, said the idea is “to discuss national elections as well, like the Virginia governor’s race, the New Jersey governor’s race, and how those trends we see will be affecting races in Idaho such as our statewide races, as well as the 1st Congressional District.”

However, the Idaho GOP Central Committee did pass a resolution in June calling for the party to “participate in non-partisan local elections” and stating that “Idaho’s Republican Party should identify and support the election of Republican candidates to local governments such as city councils and school boards.” Parker said, “What Chairman Semanko and I decided to do in response to this resolution was to work with the counties individually to see if this is something that they would be interested in. … We did not want to step on anybody’s toes.” Parker said he’s aware of only one county GOP central committee, Bonneville County’s, that decided to endorse candidates in a local city council election in Idaho Falls. “In Boise, the central committee has not endorsed anybody, but a lot of the members have been very active in supporting certain candidates,” Parker said.

Semanko himself is a candidate for re-election to the city council in Eagle. The party hasn’t endorsed there, Parker said. “We’ve had a completely 100 percent hands-off approach with Norm’s race,” he said.

This past summer saw a big jump in participation in Idaho libraries’ summer reading programs for kids, which registered 63,300 children, 38 percent more than 2008. “Every  year we hope to see the numbers of children being reached by these valuable programs increase, but we were totally blown away by the numbers this year,” said Idaho Commission for Libraries summer reading coordinator Peggy McClendon. “We know more families may have stuck closer to home this year, but all the work librarians are doing with outreach to schools, daycares, and other community partners is also really paying off. The outreach statistics show that libraries are reaching more low-income and underserved children than ever.”

Idaho’s wolf hunting season has closed in the Upper Snake zone in eastern Idaho, where hunters have now taken the limit of five wolves. It remains open in the remaining 11 zones, but two others are nearing their limits: In the McCall-Weiser Zone, with a limit of 15 wolves, 14 wolves have been taken, leaving one; and in the Palouse-Hells Canyon Zone, with a limit of five, two have been taken, leaving three. As of today, according to Idaho Fish & Game, 86 wolves have been killed statewide in the state’s first designated wolf hunting season; the statewide limit is 220.

The zones that are farthest from their limits, at this point, include the Lolo zone, where hunters have shot five wolves and the limit is 27; the Salmon zone, with a limit of 16, where hunters have taken two; and the Panhandle zone, where hunters have taken eight and the limit is 30. Fish & Game advises hunters to call (877) 872-3190 for the most up-to-date information on whether a zone is open or not; there’s also information online here.

The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation announced today that it’s giving $7.5 million to the College of Western Idaho, fulfilling an earlier pledge to give a total of $10 million to Idaho’s newest community college. In December of 2008, the foundation awarded the college $2.5 million for startup costs, scholarships and business planning aimed at increasing community college access. Now, the rest of the pledge has been fulfilled. “Our goal from the start has been to increase access to high quality, affordable, comprehensive community college education in Idaho,” said Jamie MacMillan, the foundation’s executive director. You can read the foundation’s full announcement here.

The Albertson Foundation, formed by the founders of the Albertson’s grocery chain, is a private family foundation dedicated to improving education in Idaho.

The Idaho League of Women Voters has endorsed an initiative petition to let Idahoans request permanent absentee ballot status, rather than have to request an absentee ballot every time there’s an election, a change that’s been supported in the past by the state’s county clerks but rejected by state lawmakers. “The League has a long history of supporting voter registration and ballot access,” said Kathryn Bonzo, co-president of the Idaho League of Women Voters.  “Permanent absentee balloting is a positive step forward for voters in Idaho.” All 44 of the state’s county clerks backed legislation to make the change in 2007, but lawmakers didn’t pass the bill. “The Idaho League supported the vote by mail bill sponsored by the county clerks,” Co-President Susan Steele said.  “We are endorsing the permanent absentee balloting initiative because it will make it easier for voters who need or want to vote by absentee ballot.”

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization that encourages informed and active participation in government. The “Idaho Permanent Absentee Ballot Initiative” has qualified to collect signatures in an effort to get on the ballot, but if successful, voters wouldn’t see it until the 2012 election. Click below to read my story from August about the unusually long time frame for the initiative. At least four states, including Washington, allow voters to file no-excuses, permanent absentee ballot requests, and voting by mail by sending in an absentee ballot has been gaining popularity both nationwide and in Idaho.

Continue reading League backs permanent-absentee ballot measure »

Dozens of Idaho state employees lost their jobs in the past month as a result of midyear state budget holdbacks imposed in late September, and more cuts are coming. Gov. Butch Otter’s decision to impose varying budget cuts at different agencies meant some were hit harder than others with layoffs. Agencies facing 7.5 percent cuts included the Department of Water Resources, which laid off 19 workers this month; the Department of Environmental Quality, which let 10 people go and imposed additional furloughs on all remaining employees; the Department of Parks and Recreation, which cut its seasonal staff by 25 percent; and the Department of Lands, which laid off three people in Boise and one in Coeur d’Alene, on top of four range managers it laid off in July.

“It’s tough times for everybody,” said Lands Department Director George Bacon. “Although we’re feeling pain, others have felt worse.” Click below to read more.

Continue reading Layoffs hitting from holdback »

Yesterday was a day of sharp contrasts for me, when I went from photographing Idaho’s maximum security prison - likely the least accessible of all our public buildings in the state - to the state Capitol, which traditionally has been the most accessible, but has been closed for renovation for the past two years. It reopens in January, and while workers are still working away, it looks very cool. Here’s a view of the dome from inside the rotunda, with the new historically correct two-toned paint job that brings out the architectural details…

Gov. Butch Otter celebrated today at a ceremony marking the completion of a project to widen the most-traveled section of I-84 in Idaho, between Meridian and Garrity Road. “Finally we’re turning this twice-a-day, six-and-a-half-mile-long parking lot into a real highway again,” Otter said. “Now it’s going to be the kind of route that families and businesses won’t go out of their way to avoid; it will be the kind of highway that attracts businesses, career-path jobs and economic opportunities.” The project added a third lane in each direction to the 6.5 mile stretch of interstate. It was funded by GARVEE bonds, which stands for Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles. The special type of bonds, created by Congress, allows states to borrow against their future federal highway allocations.

“Our communities are only as strong as our ability to bring people, products and ideas together, through technology and infrastructure,” Otter said. “Completing this stretch of interstate shows our commitment to that goal.” One mile of the new third lane will remain closed under the Ten Mile Overpass until next spring to allow for construction of a new interchange there. In addition to the third lane in each direction, the $113 million project also prepared the highway for a fourth lane that will open in 2011.

Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa notes that the law that permits candidates for federal office to run as long as they’re a resident of the state they’ll represent on the day of the general election is the U.S. Constitution - and the rule applies in all states, not just Idaho. That’s why a New York resident, William Bryk, was able to file a declaration of candidacy for Idaho’s U.S. Senate seat to take on Mike Crapo in 2010, even though Bryk’s never been to Idaho.

Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little launched his re-election campaign today under a fine drizzle in Capitol Park in Boise; now, he’s off to Idaho Falls and Coeur d’Alene for additional announcements. “Government should only be there to protect and create opportunity for individuals and businesses, not stand in their way,” Little declared. Gov. Butch Otter and other elected officials joined Little for his announcement; Otter said people who think he’s proposing budget cuts “without a heart” are wrong “since Brad took office as lieutenant governor, sitting at my side.” Otter, who appointed Little to the office, praised Little’s analyses and compassion as the state faces tough cuts, and urged his re-election. “It was up to me the first time - now it’s up to you,” he said.

Little said the state faces difficult decisions with budget cuts; he said he supports Otter’s move to cut costs now - including cuts in health benefits for part-time state employees - and hope to increase state workers’ pay when times improve. “The timing’s terrible, but we’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to do between now and next February the timing’s going to be terrible on,” Little said. “We’re looking at some other ones that are going to have serious ramifications.”

Idaho’s maximum security prison marked its 20th anniversary on Thursday, with two of its units sitting vacant. It’s not that Idaho doesn’t have enough prisoners — it’s short on money. Inmates have been shifted to the cheapest beds available, like those down the road at the privately operated Idaho Correctional Center, where many of the inmates are housed dorm-style in huge rooms with rows of bunk beds and open toilets. Idaho’s state Department of Correction was able to eliminate 16 positions because it closed 72 beds at the Maximum Security Institution, called the Max, and a similar number of beds at the state-run Southern Idaho Correctional Institution. The private ICC opened a 628-bed addition. But the state is now managing 500 more offenders than it did a year ago, with $28 million less in funding.

At the Max, prisoners today are more violent, and more likely to be involved with gangs - and that’s driven a move toward more segregation cells, which, of course, are more costly to operate. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com, and click here to see a slide show from the Max today.

The Idaho AARP says the combination of state budget cuts with cutbacks in health coverage for part-time state workers and shifting state retirees off the state health plan onto Medicare is “a combination that spells health care disaster for many Idaho residents,” and the organization is calling on lawmakers to address the issue.  “It doesn’t make any sense to pull the rug out from underneath Idaho’s part-time state employees and retirees, while continuing to weaken the programs in the community where people turn in times of crisis,” said Jim Wordelman, AARP Idaho state director.  “AARP members in Idaho – half of whom are in the workforce – are looking to their elected officials at the state and federal level to tackle this issue now.” Click below to read AARP Idaho’s full news release.

Continue reading AARP: ‘Idaho on crash course with health care disaster’ »

When Idaho’s senior senator, Mike Crapo, last sought re-election, he made history by drawing no challenger on the ballot, just a write-in. This time, Crapo has drawn a Democratic challenger well in advance of Idaho’s May 2010 primary election - but it’s a lawyer from New York who’s never been to Idaho. William Bryk, who’s filed his declaration of candidacy and a campaign finance report with the FEC, says there ought to be a choice. He’s a bankruptcy attorney and upstate New York native who, oddly, won the 2000 GOP primary for vice-president in New Hampshire, writes history columns, and is married to the former theater critic for the New Yorker. Legally, Bryk can run for the Idaho seat - he’d just have to live in Idaho as of the date of the general election. Closest he’s been to Idaho to date? Buffalo, N.Y. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

The Idaho Department of Water Resources is asking for the public’s help to identify improperly abandoned wells, after a hunting dog fell 270 feet into one near Twin Falls, an accident the dog barely survived. “Wells that have not been properly abandoned can be deadly hazards to animals and humans and can contaminate Idaho’s groundwater,” the department said in a news release. Bob McLaughlin, department spokesman, said there’s no estimate of how many such wells could be out there. “They’ve been sinking holes in the ground since before Idaho was a state,” he said. “That’s kind of what we’re asking, is if people stumble across a hole in the ground that appears to be a well, let us know. That way we can track it down … and get it decommissioned.” Many domestic wells are about six inches in diameter, the department said, but irrigation wells can be as large as 24 inches in diameter. Said Tom Neace, groundwater protection section manager, “I’d say there could be hundreds out there - we don’t really know.” Idaho’s required permits for wells since 1987; there are 158,766 registered in the state’s database, plus an estimated 100,000 more active wells that preceded permitting.

In addition to possible accidents from people or animals falling down the wells, abandoned wells pose a danger to underground aquifers by funneling chemicals and other pollutants down into the groundwater. Groundwater is the source for 90 percent of Idaho’s drinking water. To report an abandoned well, call the department at (208) 287-4800.

Cameron Burke, who has served as court executive for the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts in Idaho for the past 18 years, has accepted a new position working with federal courts across the country. Burke will become a federal court financial management liaison, working for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in Washington, D.C., and also maintaining an office in Boise. He’s worked for the federal courts in Idaho for the past 24 years, and before that served as a chief deputy clerk in Arizona and a trial court administrator in Oregon. He holds a master’s degree in judicial administration from Denver College of the Law; he is a past president of the Federal Court Clerks Association and has served on numerous court management boards and committees.