Our View:: Serving North Idaho
North Idaho legislators have acquired clout while forming a solid block of votes in recent years to address important issues for their constituents.
Their new strength in numbers and committee assignments were never more important than this year when they pushed the issue of property tax reform to the front burner, despite resistance from former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and key lawmakers. By the end of the 2006 session, the region’s delegates had won approval for some reform and were on the brink of major reform. In August, aided by new Gov. Jim Risch, they finished their work in a special session by, among other things, adding a penny to the sales tax to shift the costs of school maintenance and operations from the property tax.
In evaluating legislative races, The Spokesman-Review editorial board focused on which candidates would do the best job pushing for additional property tax reform, for improved school funding if Proposition 1 fails, for increasing the grocery tax credit, for protecting the interests of Idaho’s five Indian tribes and for protecting U.S. Highway 95 reconstruction funding. In most instances, Republican incumbents are in the best position to protect North Idaho interests in a Republican Legislature.
District 1: Shawn Keough, George Eskridge and Eric Anderson
Bonner and Boundary counties are fortunate to have two legislators on the powerful Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee. There have been times when North Idaho combined didn’t have that many representatives on the budget committee. Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, a vice chairwoman on the panel, has gained enormous clout in her five terms in the Legislature. Not only are she and state Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, in a position on the committee to protect regional transportation funding, but Keough has the ability and passion to push ahead the property tax agenda. She’s also a strong advocate for proper school funding, particularly in rural areas. Eskridge, a former Bonneville Power Administration employee, has added value as an incumbent in his role in helping update the state’s energy policy as co-chairman of the Legislature’s interim energy committee. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, deserves re-election to the other House District 1 seat based on his hard work and incredible ability as a freshman legislator to win $4 million in funding to fight the milfoil scourge in the region’s waterways. Now, he wants to save winter tourism near Priest Lake by finding a way that snowmobiles can coexist with endangered caribou. Democratic challenger Steve Elgar won our endorsement two years ago and remains a strong candidate.
District 2: Joyce Broadsword and Richard Taniguchi
Democrat Steve Johnson, an alternative high school teacher, spells out our reason for endorsing incumbent Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Cocolalla: She unabashedly supported property tax reform during the special session. He backed a Democratic plan to provide targeted relief to Idaho homeowners, which would have kept the sales tax at 5 cents. The Republicans’ plan wasn’t perfect, but it deflated escalating property tax bills by eliminating the uncapped school costs. Broadsword is philosophically aligned with those pushing for additional property tax reform and an increased grocery tax credit to offset the penny sales tax increase on food. In the lone contested House District 2 race, incumbent Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, has key assignments, including a position on the budget committee, and three terms under his belt. But he remains an embarrassment in the North Idaho delegation as a result of his negative views of the Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe, a key employer in far-flung District 2. Not only would Democrat Richard Taniguchi work for property tax relief, as Harwood would, but he is open-minded.
District 4: John Goedde, George Sayler and Marge Chadderdon
Two influential legislators represent District 4 (Coeur d’Alene): state Sen. John Goedde, the Republican chairman of the Education Committee, and House Assistant Minority Leader George Sayler. If re-elected in his four-way race, Goedde will play a key role in possible formation of a statewide community college system. He recognizes that more community colleges are needed and understands the importance of protecting the local control of the two that now exist, including North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene. Importantly, he is drafting a bill that would sunset the dozens of sales tax exemptions in Idaho and require an annual review of each. Elimination of some exemptions, he says, could provide money to eventually remove the sales tax on food.
In the House District 4 races, Republican incumbent Marge Chadderdon and anti-tax activist Sharon Culbreth are good fits in the North Idaho Republican push to provide more property tax protection. But there are sufficient Republican representatives elsewhere in the region to make the case. Of more importance to Coeur d’Alene voters is to retain the second most powerful legislator in the Democratic House caucus, George Sayler. Sayler has been criticized for opposing Gov. Jim Risch’s plan during the August special session to provide property tax relief by raising the sales tax by 1 cent. He realized at the time that the move was politically risky, but he was willing to take that risk for conscience sake. North Idaho needs more than one Democrat in office, particularly a moderate, thoughtful one, like Sayler. Chadderdon gets a slight nod over former legislator Bonnie Douglas. We admire Douglas’ passion to fight for issues that are off the Republican radar, such as better health benefits, low-income housing and wages for the poor. But we firmly disagree with her top priority: repeal of the recent property tax reform. Chadderdon would vote to keep and expand property tax reform.
District 5: Jim Hammond, Frank Henderson and Bob Nonini
As freshmen representatives, Republicans Frank Henderson, of Post Falls, and Bob Nonini, of Coeur d’Alene, led the push for property tax reform and for the ability to ask Kootenai County voters to form a Rathdrum Aquifer Protection District. Henderson, a former Post Falls mayor and Kootenai County commissioner, is running as part of a team with hard-working, passionate Nonini and Senate candidate Jim Hammond, a former mayor and city administrator of Post Falls. They will be an impressive delegation in fighting for additional property tax relief and a higher grocery credit on the sales tax. Individually, the three offer expertise in issues involving local government, education and water. Together, they will make one of the best delegations in the state.