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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Keough: Otter’s revenue estimate ‘realistic’

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, the new Senate co-chair of the budget-setting Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, is welcoming Gov. Butch Otter’s revenue estimate that underlies his budget proposal for next year. Otter set his revenue projection at 4.9 percent growth in the general fund for fiscal year 2017; that happens to be the same figure Keough picked in her capacity as a member of the Legislature’s joint Economic Outlook & Revenue Projection Committee.

“That projection seems realistic,” said Keough, whose committee is responsible for writing state budget bills for every state agency.  She said the revenue panel, which heard from an array of representatives of various sectors of Idaho’s economy, heard characterizations like “steady as she goes,” “slow plodding” and “tepid” to describe the economic recovery. “There’s some concern about what the economies in Europe and Asia are doing and how that might impact the U.S. as well,” Keough said, “and ultimately if that would possibly have an impact in Idaho. So I think we’re doing better, but I also think we need to continue to be cautious.”

Keough said she’s seeing broad legislative support for Otter’s proposals to continue implementing the K-12 public schools improvement plan, including the teacher career ladder. “I think he laid out some goals that many share,” she said, “and then he also laid out a few new things that we will deliberate on, both in the budget committee and in the Legislature as well.”

As for Otter’s budget, she said, “Of course, I haven’t gone through it line by line yet, but we will start that process tomorrow in JFAC.”



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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