Budget Writers Pry Open Purse For Batt Committee Grudgingly Begins Doling Out State’s Limited Cash
Legislative budget writers confronted the state’s tight financial situation on Friday, grudgingly approving some of Republican Gov. Phil Batt’s initial plans to plug holes in the current budget.
The majority votes on the Joint FinanceAppropriations Committee were generally overwhelming and the amounts of cash involved relatively small.
But the attention and debate given to items like $16,500 to cover the state Board of Tax Appeals’ skyrocketing caseload reflected the pressure lawmakers are under. They’re being asked to accommodate rising demands for government services with limited increases in tax receipts as the economy cools.
“A few thousand dollars here and a few there and pretty soon you’ve got some real money,” conservative GOP Sen. Stan Hawkins of Ucon said. “One of these days we’re going to run out of other people’s money to spend.”
Facing the committee next week are major proposals to pump another $2.3 million into the juvenile justice system and restore more than $13 million to the public school aid package.
Much of the concern focused on spending general tax revenues that Batt has estimated will increase only 6.7 percent this year - more than a full point less than originally projected - and less than 6 percent next year. The overall view of the Legislature’s special economic outlook committee was somewhat less optimistic.
But budget committee members even took issue with Batt’s recommendations that involved spending from a variety of specialty funds such as the Water Pollution Control Account and the receipts the Department of Administration gets from other agencies for its management services.
In one of its narrower votes, the committee ratified, 12-8, the governor’s decision to assign a state trooper full time to security in and around the state Capitol.
“This building’s a symbol,” State Police Superintendent Ed Strickfaden said. “If you look at what’s happening around the United States, we’re concerned.”
Strickfaden said the trooper, who was assigned to the Capitol Mall on Dec. 11, augments the private security force that has been assigned to the Statehouse and nearby government buildings for several years.
The trooper provides law enforcement authority that the private guards lack in emergencies. In addition, Strickfaden said the trooper will undergo special training in areas like bomb detection and response to threats.
xxxx HIGHLIGHTS Highlights from the past week in the Idaho Legislature: They said it: “He said it exactly the way the people up North would have said it.” - Rep. Jeff Alltus, R-Coeur d’Alene, in response to Gov. Phil Batt’s comments on resource issues in his State of the State speech. No major votes were taken this week. Events included: One Percent: Ron Rankin, president of the Idaho State Property Owners Association, announced Tuesday that the association has made the final payment to a voters’ outreach company that will collect enough signatures to put the One Percent Initiative on the ‘96 ballot. The initiative would limit property taxes to 1 percent of taxable value after exemptions. Who’ll pay: The Senate and House Education Committees heard several proposals to fund school construction on Thursday. Northern legislators’ reactions were mixed: Sen. Tim Tucker, D-Porthill, and Rep. Wayne Meyer, R-Rathdrum, said they’re worried about money. Rep. Carol Pietsch, D-Sandpoint, opposed state funding. Rep. Don Pischner, R-Coeur d’Alene, supports it. What they thought: While North Idaho Republican legislators unanimously praised Batt’s State of the State address, northern Democrats also had some good words for the governor. Rep. Marvin Vandenberg, D-Coeur d’Alene, approved of Batt’s proposed welfare reforms and Sen. Mary Lou Reed, D-Coeur d’Alene, liked his statements on human rights and farmworker insurance. To reach your legislator, call (800) 626-0471.