Jon Hanian, press secretary for Gov. Butch Otter, said the governor stands ready to meet with lawmakers to resolve the impasse over transportation funding. “We’ve cleared the governor’s schedule, he’s got nothing on it,” Hanian said. “From his perspective, we keep giving ground here. … We’re at $75 million now. They didn’t want to implement it during this economic downturn - we said OK to that. They wanted this interim committee - we said OK to that. … We feel like we’ve been very reasonable in what our reaction to every one of their demands has been. We kept backing it down. The governor has been very responsive. … He has listened to their views, and we have agreed to a lot of ‘em. The only thing he has asked in return is, you’ve got to give us certainty, so ITD can begin addressing this (road maintenance) backlog that’s gonna kill us.” Said Hanian, “We’re still here working, and we’ll be here until it’s resolved.”
Though House GOP leaders haven’t met with the governor since Wednesday, House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, said, “We are talking to the governor - maybe not face to face, but there are communications going on.”
Betsy Z. Russell covers Idaho news from The Spokesman-Review's bureau in Boise.
Named best state-based political blog in Idaho for 2013 by The Fix
Read all the posts from recent conversations on Eye On Boise.
999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201
P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210
Main switchboard: (509) 459-5000 • (800) 338-8801
Newsroom: (509) 459-5400 • (800) 789-0029
Customer service: (800) 338-8801
© Copyright 2013, The Spokesman-Review
Terms of use • Privacy policy • Copyright policy

Please keep it civil. Don't post comments that are obscene, defamatory, threatening, off-topic, an infringement of copyright or an invasion of privacy. Read our forum standards and community guidelines.
You must be logged in to post comments. Please log in here or click the comment box below for options.
comments powered by Disqus« Back to Eye On Boise