Officials Cut Batt Office Funds To Make Up For An Expiring Grant

Legislative budget writers took Republican Gov. Phil Batt at his word Wednesday, cutting nearly $25,000 from his office budget to make up for an expiring federal grant.

“He told us to save money where we could,” one lawmaker quipped after the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee had voted 16-3 for the reduced spending bill.

A day earlier, in detailing his plans for handling $100 million in damage from North Idaho flooding, Batt urged lawmakers to exercise “the greatest caution” in finalizing the new state budget.

And when he outlined his austere blueprint for state spending in January, the governor specifically blasted efforts to replace expiring or eliminated federal funds with cash from the state treasury.

But while he said he has rejected nearly all attempts at such fund shifts and the budget committee has followed suit, Batt did propose the state pick up the nearly $25,000 the Northwest Power Planning Council no longer was going to contribute to the salary of his natural resources specialist.