Stroke Won’t Keep Stoicheff From Tireless Service Even Gop Happy With Legislator’s Return, Invaluable Experience

Rep. James Stoicheff, D-Sandpoint, is down but not out.

He suffered a stroke and is confined to a wheelchair. But he was re-elected without opposition and showed up at the Statehouse for Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony.

Stoicheff is starting his 13th term, his 10th in the House after three in the Senate dating back to 1969. He is known as a tireless lawmaker, working hard for his bills even though as a minority Democrat he’s had limited luck over the years. He describes himself as a friend of the working man and generally wants to know what new ideas will cost the state and who will fork over the money.

Stoicheff also is a renowned traveler. For most of his tenure, he has made the 900-mile round-trip to his Sandpoint home nearly every weekend of the legislative session.

Even Republicans were happy to see Stoicheff back for this organizing session. They say his institutional memory is invaluable to a chamber that this year lost its two senior members, committee chairmen Kitty Gurnsey of Boise and Steve Antone of Rupert.

A close call

Anybody who has watched the legislative career of Boise Republican Sen. James Risch knows he can count votes.

So when he went into Wednesday night’s GOP Senate caucus meeting still a candidate to become majority floor leader, it seemed a done deal. Risch doesn’t like to lose, and if he didn’t have the votes to defeat Sen. Sheila Sorensen of Boise, he wouldn’t have stayed in the race.

He won what most believe was a close vote. The tally is never announced.

Sorensen said later she could count, too, and some who said they would back her didn’t.

The decision to make Risch the Senate floor leader has long-term implications. The Senate’s top officer, President Pro Tem Jerry Twiggs of Blackfoot, was unchallenged for another two years in that job, but it’s expected to be his last term.

Risch served as Senate president pro tem in the 1980s, but was beaten in 1988 by Democrat Mike Burkett.

Gov. Phil Batt put Risch back in the Senate two years ago to fill a vacancy, and he easily won election last month.

If Risch doesn’t seek Twiggs’ job in two years, most people will be surprised. Friends say he wants to run for governor at some point, and the top leadership job in the Senate is an ideal launching pad.

Some senators saw the majority leader’s race as a de facto election for pro tem two years from now. And some Senate Republicans said privately that Sorenson lost votes from senators who couldn’t countenance a woman as president pro tem.

Risch’s victory might set up an interesting agenda down the road. House Speaker Michael Simpson won his third term without opposition, and if Batt doesn’t seek re-election in 1998, Simpson is expected to run for governor.

The speaker has been a strong leader of the overwhelming GOP majority the last two years, with Twiggs less forceful from the Senate side. Risch always was known as a strong leader when he was the Senate’s top officer before and would be expected to be the same now.

So it would not be unlikely for those two personalities to clash during the next two years.

Issue on hold

The next Legislature will have a full agenda of tough problems next month. But one issue that probably won’t be taken up is deregulation of the electric utility industry. Simpson says the lawmakers probably will vote for a continuing study committee to work through the unknowns so the issue can be handled during the 1998 session.

Lawmakers got more work on Thursday. An advisory committee gave the governor a report recommending 88 changes in Medicaid. Some will take state action, but others will require waivers from the federal government. Batt said he will study the report and likely propose legislation in the upcoming session.