Lawmakers preparing for more road stimulus

BOISE – State transportation officials say they’re scrambling to prepare for what they’re calling “Stimulus II,” federal legislation also known as the 2010 Jobs Bill that could potentially bring another $182 million to Idaho for shovel-ready, bid-ready transportation projects.

The pending bill includes a critical requirement: That 50 percent of the money be awarded in 90 days.

“It’s going to be very, very difficult for any state” to meet that requirement, Idaho Transportation Department Chief Engineer Tom Cole told lawmakers, but ITD is gearing up. States that don’t meet that time frame would lose out to others that do. “It’s going to be tight,” Cole said.

Senate Transportation Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell, said if the usual bidding rules hold up the process, lawmakers likely would be willing to change state laws to ease the rules if it would mean “not leaving $180 million on the table” that could go to needed road projects in Idaho.

Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, said he could think of an unfunded freeway project on I-90 in Post Falls that would be a good candidate for the program. Other lawmakers said they, too, can think of unfunded but needed projects that could use the money.

Meth Project cites success

The Idaho Meth Project has released poll results showing it’s making progress toward its top goal – convincing Idaho teens and young people that it’s dangerous to try methamphetamine even once. In the project’s latest survey, 66 percent of teens and 78 percent of young adults in Idaho said they believe there is “great risk” in using the drug just once or twice. That’s up from 55 and 68 percent in 2007, when the project began. “We consider this to be very significant progress,” said Megan Ronk, the project’s executive director.

The project has sponsored graphic TV and radio commercials and billboards designed to alarm teens about the dangers of meth; a new, third wave of ads has just launched. First lady Lori Otter, a member of the project’s board and also a member of the National Meth Project Foundation board, said, “This is a saturation-level advertising campaign that is specifically designed to reach teens and young adults at the places they frequent.”

The project is a privately funded effort, but the state has poured $1.5 million into it since it started two years ago. In the current year, the project is getting $500,000 from the state’s Millenium Fund, which is funded by proceeds from a tobacco settlement; last year the project got $1 million. Next year, Gov. Butch Otter is proposing $500,000 more for the Meth Project from the Millenium Fund.

Labrador touts fundraising

State Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, who’s running in the GOP primary for the 1st District congressional seat, has announced that he raised $30,000 in December, bringing his campaign war chest to a total of $80,000. That’s because he also put in $50,000 of his own money, a move that Labrador said shows he’s serious about the race.

“If I am going to ask people to contribute to my campaign – and the larger cause to change how Congress does business – then I should be willing to invest in that effort myself,” he said. He added, “Raising $30,000 in the middle of the holiday season is a tremendous accomplishment for my campaign.

Labrador entered the race Dec. 7, and is facing Vaughn Ward, who’s been actively campaigning and fundraising for months; campaign finance reports in the race are due Jan. 31. Ward announced earlier that he raised more than $100,000 in the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2009. The two are vying to take on Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick.

When events converge …

How did it happen that the “Tea Party Convergence on the Capitol” last week took place on Martin Luther King Jr./Idaho Human Rights Day, the state holiday on which there’s usually a civil rights rally on the state Capitol steps during the time the Tea Party rally was happening? The Boise Tea Party Web site posted this notice before the event: “Tea Party groups from all over Idaho are coming to Boise for the opening day of the Idaho Legislature.” However, the Legislature actually opened Jan. 11, a week earlier.

The Idaho Freedom Foundation reserved the Capitol’s main steps for the Tea Party event before the civil rights march and rally could; as a result, participants this year marched from Boise State University to Boise City Hall for their rally, two blocks south of the Capitol. Their cheers could be heard from the Capitol steps during the Tea Party rally.

Then, members of both groups were among hundreds who entered the Capitol for the official state MLK Day ceremony, which included a proclamation from the governor.

Cutting positions

Lawmakers are looking at the details of Otter’s proposal to trim more than 400 positions from the state payroll, most of which already are vacant. Wayne Hammon, Otter’s budget chief, presented a report to legislative budget writers showing a total reduction of 463, including 379 positions that already are vacant.

Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, co-chair of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, noted that in many cases, the money for the vacant positions has been reverted back out of the agencies’ budgets, but the authorization for the position remains. “It makes government look bigger than it already is,” he said.

The biggest proposed reductions in positions are at colleges and universities, down by 176; Parks and Recreation, down 165; Labor, down 48; and Health and Welfare, down 43.

Lots of unpaid days off …

In fiscal year 2009, 4,536 state employees took 96,166 unpaid furlough hours - the equivalent of 12,021 unpaid days off. So far this year, 5,906 state workers have taken 136,525 furlough hours, or 17,066 unpaid days off. That’s as of last week – just halfway through the fiscal year.