Conservatives Gain More Strength On Budget Panel House Gop Cuts Demos’ Seats On Joint Committee From 2 To 1

The Legislature’s budget-writing committee took on an even more tightfisted look than it already had when House Republicans on Friday replaced three retired moderates with conservatives.

In doing so, House GOP leaders cut the Democratic voice on their half of the 20-member Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee from two to one despite Republican Gov. Phil Batt’s admonition a month ago that the huge GOP majority must assure all points of view are aired.

House Speaker Michael Simpson, who came under criticism before the election for suggesting the Democratic voice should be stronger in the Legislature, justified the decision on mathematical grounds.

When voters slashed Democrats from 20 percent to just 15 percent of the House and Senate on Nov. 5, Simpson said a commensurate reduction was warranted in Democratic membership on the committee that decides how the state will spend more than $1.3 billion in state tax money this winter.

The speaker admitted that pressure from House members wanting a seat on the high-profile, powerful committee played a role in the decision.

The Senate, on the other hand, allowed the Democrats to retain two seats on the budget panel even though on a percentage basis there are fewer Democrats in the Senate than in the House. Democrats account for 14.3 percent of the Senate and 15.7 percent of the House.

“I was the one who said there should be more Democrats,” Simpson said. “They didn’t do their job in the election. That’s not my fault.”

One Democratic seat more or less makes no real difference on a committee that clearly has been controlled by conservatives for the past two years. But some lawmakers, including some Republicans, conceded that reducing Democrats from four to three on the panel creates a perception that the GOP wants to shut out dissent on what traditionally is the top issue of every legislative session.

Batt acknowledged that potential the day after the November election when he said, “With the majorities we have now, I believe it is incumbent upon us to discuss these matters thoroughly and not let things through just because we have a majority.”

Joining the House contingent on the panel is former Transportation Chairman JoAn Wood of Rigby, former Education Chairman Ron Black of Twin Falls, former Agriculture Chairman Frances Field of Grand View, Jack Barraclough of Idaho Falls and Don Pischner of Coeur d’Alene.

They replace moderate Republicans James Lucas of Moscow and Kathleen Gurnsey of Boise, who was the co-chairman of the committee for the past 16 years, and Democrat Pete Black of Pocatello. Conservative Republicans Ralph Steele of Idaho Falls and Lynn Loosli of Ashton also retired.

“We wanted some people with expertise in a variety of areas such as transportation, agriculture and education,” Simpson said.

The only membership change on the Senate side of the panel was Republican Evan Frasure of Pocatello replacing Rex Furness of Rigby.

But the Senate did prepare for the anticipated change in its budget chairman in two years when veteran chairman Atwell Parry of Melba is expected to retire. Vice Chairman Jerry Thorne of Nampa, who also plans to retire in 1998, stepped aside so that Dean Cameron of Rupert could become vice chairman and learn the inner workings of the panel.