SR.com Blogs | Eye on Boise

But one area's still doing well...

Despite uncertain economic times, it appears that one state revenue source in Idaho is clipping along just fine: People still are buying lottery tickets. �For us here, we have maintained the kind of sales levels that we�ve forecasted,� said Idaho Lottery Director Jeff Anderson. �We�ll end up the current fiscal year somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 to 5 percent over last year.� ( Full post )

A sign of bad economic times for Idaho

Though Idaho�s overall unemployment rates still are low, the latest numbers show some troubling economic news, according to the state Department of Labor. For the fourth straight month, seasonally adjusted unemployment rates rose in June, from 3.6 percent to 3.8 percent � when June usually brings rates unchanged from May � and there were 11,000-plus fewer Idahoans working in June than a year earlier in June of 2007. Nationally, unemployment is at 5.5 percent, but didn�t rise from May to June. Idaho�s increase was the �largest May-to-June increase on record,� the department reported. Overall, �Employment has not decreased this significantly since 1980.� Labor officials also said, �The number of Idaho workers without jobs increased 1,900 to 28,800, the highest number of unemployed since April 2005.� Below is the department�s full press release. ( Full post )

9th Circuit revises approach on environment cases

In a case involving a challenge to a North Idaho timber sale, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has issued a ruling declaring that judges shouldn�t be attempting to act as scientists and tell the Forest Service how to protect wildlife � and distancing itself from past rulings that might have suggested they could. Here�s a link to the July 2 decision in the case, Lands Council vs. McNair. �In essence, Lands Council asks this court to act as a panel of scientists that instructs the Forest Service how to validate its hypotheses regarding wildlife viability, chooses among scientific studies in determining whether the Forest Service has complied with the underlying Forest Plan, and orders the agency to explain every possible scientific uncertainty,� Circuit Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. wrote for the court, in a ruling upholding an earlier decision by U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge. �� This is not a proper role for a federal appellate court. But Lands Council�s arguments illustrate how, in recent years, our environmental jurisprudence has, at times, shifted away from the appropriate standard of review and could be read to suggest that this court should play such a role.�
( Full post )

National political handicapper eyes Idaho race

The Cook Political Report, published by Charles E. Cook Jr., is one of the most credible non-partisan trackers of congressional races (The New York Times called it �a newsletter that both parties regard as authoritative,� while Bob Schieffer of CBS News once called it the �bible of the political community�). Now the report has Idaho on its latest list of changing races, moving freshman 1st District GOP Congressman Bill Sali�s re-election race from �solid Republican� to �likely Republican.� �While it�s not likely that a majority of the races moved from "Solid" to "Likely" Republican will become competitive by November, the poor national climate for the GOP and the DCCC's unprecedented financial edge makes even very difficult districts for Democrats worth keeping tabs on,� wrote David Wasserman, the report�s editor. The Idaho race was one of 21 House races that the Cook report moved from �solid� to �likely� Republican today. Three races were changed from �likely Republican� to �lean Republican,� two from �toss-up� to �lean Democratic,� and one in Pennsylvania was moved the other direction, from �likely Democratic� to �lean Democratic.� ( Full post )

Howland: 'I 100 percent stand by my report'

Longtime Idaho tax auditor Stan Howland, whose whistleblower report charged that the Idaho Tax Commission is cutting secret deals with multistate corporations to excuse them from state taxes they owe, said today, �I would say that I 100 percent totally stand by my report.� He said analyses by the tax commissioners and by Senate Tax Chairman Brent Hill of the cases he cited were �inaccurate,� and said, �I still am requesting an independent, third-party investigation.� ( Full post )

Hill: 'I didn't mean to indicate everything was fine'

Some news reports in the past week suggested that Senate Tax Chairman Brent Hill was dismissing complaints about secret tax deals at the state Tax Commission, but Hill told Eye on Boise today that wasn�t his intent at all. �I didn�t mean to indicate that everything was fine,� he said. Hill said in his view, two questions need to be addressed: Did the tax commissioners do anything illegal, and should there be changes at the commission, as suggested in whistleblower Stan Howland�s report? Hill said he agrees with the commissioners� approach of settling some tax cases to avoid litigation. �If � the commissioners have acted contrary to Idaho law, then I�m committed to trying to change Idaho law,� he said. �The commissioners need to have leeway to use their good judgment � that�s what we�re paying them for.� But, he added, �I think some of his (Howland�s) suggestions do have some merit.� ( Full post )

Hill: Independent investigation needed

Idaho Senate Tax Chairman Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, is calling on Gov. Butch Otter to launch an independent investigation of some of the allegations raised in a whistleblower's report charging that the state Tax Commission cut secret deals to excuse multistate corporations from paying millions in state taxes. In a five-page recommendation sent to Otter today, Hill said if Otter doesn't launch an independent investigation, he'll call a special meeting this summer of his Senate committee to look into the issues. Hill said he doubts laws were broken, but said that call is up to Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, who is investigating that question. Hill, a CPA, said he thought that settling cases rather than litigating them often is in the public interest, and if what the commissioners have done in the cases he�s examined is illegal, then Idaho laws should be changed to legalize it. But he said he�s concerned about the secrecy of the deals and making sure that tax decisions and procedures are fair. Below is Hill�s memo. ( Full post )

Whistleblower calls on Otter to launch investigation

State tax auditor Stan Howland, whose 17-page whistleblower report charging that the state Tax Commission has cut secret deals with large multistate corporations to excuse them from millions in state taxes, sent a letter to Gov. Butch Otter today calling on him to initiate a thorough investigation of the Tax Commission including examination of the resolution of all multistate audits for the past several years, and all internal procedures of the Tax Commission. Earlier, at Otter�s request, state tax commissioners had issued a formal response to Howland�s report. In that response, the tax commissioners defended the practices, denied any wrongdoing, and said the secrecy of the deals is appropriate. Below is Howland�s letter; here�s a link to the point-by-point response Howland has provided to the Tax Commission�s defense of its practices. ( Full post )

Current, former Idaho guvs praise nuke waste agreement

Former Idaho Govs. Phil Batt and Cecil Andrus joined current Gov. Butch Otter and state and federal officials today to announce a long-awaited agreement for the federal government to remove buried waste from the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho. The agreement resolves six years of litigation between the feds and the state that followed a federal assertion that the 1995 agreement Batt reached with them didn�t require them to remove waste that was buried below-ground. Batt called the new agreement, which implements a 2006 federal court order, �a very good agreement,� and said, �Thank you, Governor Butch.� He added, �We beat �em a couple of times. I think we could beat �em again, but I don�t think it�d be in our interest � because we have a very good agreement here to get it done.� Any further delays would just mean more chance that nuclear waste, stored underground in deteriorating barrels, could leak into Idaho�s Snake Plain aquifer, Batt said. ( Full post )

Risch ahead in LaRocco poll, but LaRocco�s happy

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Larry LaRocco today released the results of a poll that showed that in a head-to-head contest, 500 likely Idaho voters chose Republican Jim Risch over LaRocco 43 percent to 28 percent, with independent Rex Rammell getting 6 percent, �other� at 6 percent and 18 percent undecided. It doesn�t seem like that sounds so great for LaRocco. But when respondents to the 500-person poll �heard about Risch and LaRocco�s stances on the issues and were asked to vote again, LaRocco had 40 percent, Risch 37 percent, Rammell 5 percent, other 5 percent and undecideds dropped to 13 percent,� the LaRocco campaign said in a press release, saying, �Voters choose LaRocco when they know the issues.� ( Full post )

Deal says high gas prices could lead to insurance savings

High gas prices could mean lower insurance rates for drivers who respond by changing their driving habits, according to Idaho state insurance chief Bill Deal. ( Full post )

Trent Clark is new IACI chairman

Former Idaho Republican Party Chairman Trent Clark, who is director of government and public affairs for Monsanto Corp., is the new chairman of the board of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, a major business lobbying group. Clark is known in journalism circles for making a controversial comment in an interview with an S-R reporter, then claiming it wasn�t what he said and suing the paper for libel. Clark lost, repeatedly, including when he appealed the case to the Idaho Supreme Court. ( Full post )

Lottery winnings going unclaimed

Someone won $200,000 in the Idaho lottery in January, but still hasn�t claimed the prize � and if he or she doesn�t come forward in the next three and a half weeks, it�ll be the third $200,000 Idaho lottery prize in three years to go unclaimed. State officials aren�t complaining too hard about the absent-minded prize winners � if the winnings are unclaimed, they�re divided between Idaho�s public schools and a fund for state buildings. ( Full post )

Cerami joins LaRocco campaign

Kassie Cerami, the volunteer who together with T.J. Thomson created an unprecedented grass-roots movement in Idaho for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, has signed on with Larry LaRocco�s U.S. Senate campaign as his new state field director. Cerami said she�s a �true LaRoccObaman,� and said in a statement, �I�m putting all my passionate energy for change into Idaho�s Senate race because we need leaders who care about issues such as health care, jobs, and the environment. We need leaders like Larry LaRocco who understand the challenges facing families. We need leaders who won�t let us be rushed into war. We need leaders with the courage to say, �enough is enough,� who will pull our soldiers out of Iraq.� ( Full post )

It�s not happening, but they want comments on it

This was as puzzling as could be. Just a week after the Idaho Transportation Board received a report on the Dover Bridge on Highway 2 in North Idaho, declared the 71-year-old bridge safe but still sorely in need of replacement, and bemoaned the fact that there�s no money to do it � the project isn�t in the ITD�s five-year plan at this point � I received a press release from the state DEQ calling for public comments on permits for wetlands filling �to construct a replacement bridge on U.S. Highway 2 near Dover.� Comments are due by July 25. ( Full post )

City slaps lien on Fischer, Swindell

A pair of Christian activists are pleading poverty after failing to pay a $10,131 federal court judgment from their failed effort to return a Ten Commandments monument to a city park in Boise � and now the city has slapped a lien on �all real and personal property� owned by the two, the Rev. Bryan Fischer and Brandi Swindell. �This judgment will remain on your credit record until the debt is paid in full,� the city informed the two in a June 23 letter. �We urge you to contact us immediately to resolve this matter. If we do not hear from you by July 15, 2008, we will proceed against you to collect the amounts due, plus interest and costs.� Fischer posted an appeal for funds on his Idaho Values Alliance website today, complaining, �Ms. Swindell and I both work for small non-profit organizations and thus have limited means. The city of Boise, on the other hand, has an annual budget of $479 million, and thus is certainly in a position to waive this judgment.� U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge ordered the two to pay the $10,131 on April 8, 2004. The activists filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, but the appeals court dismissed it on May 12, 2004. ( Full post )

Otter steers against tide on boat fees

Only seven states � none of them in the West � require registration of non-motorized boats. Yet Idaho Gov. Butch Otter is pushing for registration of canoes, kayaks and other non-motorized vessels in the Gem State. �There�s probably more activity in Idaho � we�ve got the longest stretches of whitewater in the United States,� Otter said. �We have enough activity, and I think enough use of the parking lots, the docks, the launching pads, that I think it warrants taking a look at it.� Otter has a task force, including jet boaters, whitewater paddlers, state officials and legislators, studying the issue now, and may propose legislation next year to start non-motorized boat registration. ( Full post )

AG�s get Anheuser-Busch to back off product

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden has joined with attorneys general of 10 other states to announce a legal settlement in which Anheuser-Busch will stop making �alcohol energy� drinks that combine alcohol with high amounts of stimulants like caffeine. The attorneys general said the products, including �Tilt� and �Bud Extra,� were being heavily marketed to young people with slogans like, �You can sleep when you�re 30.� ( Full post )

Tax commissioners dispute whistleblower report

Idaho�s four state tax commissioners have issued a formal response disputing a whistleblower�s report that accused them of cutting secret tax deals to excuse multistate corporations from paying millions in state taxes. �The Commission, and the individuals involved, reject as completely untrue any allegation that cases are illegally or inappropriately compromised,� the commissioners wrote.

Longtime state tax auditor Stan Howland, who has worked for the state Tax Commission for 28 years, three weeks ago sent a 17-page report detailing his claims to state lawmakers, the governor and the Idaho attorney general. Howland contended that the commissioners are routinely settling disputed tax cases with corporations, and that confidentiality laws prevent anyone from finding out about it. ( Full post )

'We're getting a lot of 'hmmm's”

Asked what kind of reaction he�s getting so far to his �road show� pushing a big investment into transportation improvements, Gov. Butch Otter told Eye on Boise today, �We�re getting a lot of �hmmm�s.� We�re getting a lot of this,� stroking his chin. ( Full post )