Celia Gould, state agriculture director, began her budget presentation to JFAC this morning by noting the newly restored state Capitol. Recently, she said, she spoke with the Arizona ag director; "They had just sold their state capitol building," she said. "I'm proud to say I think in the years to come that Idaho is going to come out on the strong side of that." The reason, she said: Prudent budgeting and spending, unlike what some other states have done.

Arizona made $735 million by selling more than a dozen state buildings, including the state Capitol and both legislative chambers, through a lease-back arrangement. That means the state gets cash now, but will now have to pay rent for using what always have been public buildings; eventually the state would regain ownership, under the bipartisan plan that news reports have described as "desperate."

Gould lauded the hard work of Ag Department employees, who she said she sees on the job both early and late, and "We don't see names on overtime sheets." The workers are dedicated to doing their jobs, she said. To meet budget holdbacks, the department has cut staff, held positions vacant and imposed unpaid furloughs on all employees, Gould told JFAC. Those cuts, while necessary to make the holdbacks, she said, are "not sustainable."

She noted that Ag has an ongoing general-fund enhancement request for next year, which Gov. Butch Otter has recommended funding, for $900,000 for efforts to continue to prevent and fight infestations of milfoil and other aquatic invasive species in Idaho lakes. The state has invested $10 million in eradicating milfoil with some success, Gould said, but if it stops now, all those treatments might have to be repeated at even larger scale in the future. The budget request, she said, "will ensure that we can keep a prevention and treatment presence in these lakes." They include Henry's Lake - where prevention efforts have succeeded at avoiding any infestation - Cocolalla and Lake Pend Oreille.