Wayne Hammon, the governor's budget director, was answering a question from Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, about transportation priorities when he went a step further and added this dig: "The future of Idaho is not contained in the North End." The North End of Boise is LeFavour's district, District 19, which stands out politically for electing Democrats, and features older homes, small parks, the historic Hyde Park commercial district, an annual neighborhood festival, lots of young families and older folks, and easy access to bike trails and other foothills recreation. It's also close enough to downtown Boise for residents to easily commute by bicycle. LeFavour told Hammon, "It really is a question of priorities ... this emphasis on cars and roads," with no allowance for transit, bike lanes or the like. "We can't keep going down this path. We need to prepare for the future and to me, this is not doing that," she said. Hammon responded with his dig about the North End. "There are people all over the state ... that need help," he said, "that do not have the option of riding their bike to work."

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