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Eye On Boise

‘Will mean that this task force has failed’

Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, left, opens the first meeting of a legislative task force charged with finding new funding sources for Idaho state parks and the state police, when they lose gas tax funding in a year. Cameron co-chairs the task force, which also includes Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, center, Sen. Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello, right, and five other lawmakers. (Betsy Russell / The Spokesman-Review)
Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, left, opens the first meeting of a legislative task force charged with finding new funding sources for Idaho state parks and the state police, when they lose gas tax funding in a year. Cameron co-chairs the task force, which also includes Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, center, Sen. Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello, right, and five other lawmakers. (Betsy Russell / The Spokesman-Review)

As the Legislative Task Force that's charged with finding new funding sources for state parks and the Idaho State Police to replace gas taxes they'll lose one year from tomorrow began its first meeting this morning, Co-Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, told the joint House-Senate panel that they must find money that'll be available "on an ongoing basis," which he called "a key phrase." "It is not for us to come up with one-time money," he told the lawmakers on the panel. The group also can't turn back the clock to undo this year's Legislature's decision to shift the gas tax money away from the two agencies, he said. "That's really not an option for us. Nor is it an option for us to shift responsibility to the general fund." If the general fund must fill the gap, he said, "it will mean that this task force has failed. I don't know about you, but I don't like to work on failed task forces. I want to find a solution."



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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