Information Center Boots Out Lobbyists

Lobbyists long have had a prime spot in the state Capitol to hang their coats, lounge with a cup of coffee or return phone calls.

But the 20-by-10 foot room, tucked along the edge of the Statehouse rotunda between the House and Senate chambers, was pretty valuable real estate. Another, similarly sized room next door housed the Legislative Information Center, which was bursting with messengers, tour guides, telephone operators, fax machines, photocopiers and computers.

Fifteen people worked in the center, which is the clearinghouse for constituent calls to legislators. They were responsible for making copies for lawmakers; getting, sending and forwarding faxes and e-mails; taking calls and getting the messages to legislators; handing out schedules to the public; and more.

So this year, the Legislative Information Center expanded into both sides of the space, booting the lobbyists out.

But don’t think the lobbyists are gone - they didn’t go far.

They were assigned a small office in the Capitol basement that had been occupied by Idaho Public Television, plus another small office on the Capitol’s fourth floor that had been the staff offices for the Senate Democrats. The two together roughly equal their former space.

The situation is temporary, the House Speaker’s office said. Next year, the lobbyists will give Public TV back its small basement office, and they’ll expand into the whole suite of offices next to their fourth-floor perch - offices now occupied by state senators.

Some lobbyists grumbled, until the speaker’s office looked into the issue and discovered two things: Idaho is one of the few state capitols in the nation that gives lobbyists space, and the lobbyists haven’t paid any rent in the past 20 years.

“They were the only ones in the Capitol that weren’t paying any rent,” House Speaker Mike Simpson said.

Life in the minority

Senate Democrats aren’t thrilled about seeing their staff banished to the basement in favor of lobbyists. “It’s not very convenient for us,” Sen. Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, said. “I used to see them once an hour, and now it’s once a day.”

He added, “I am not positive that it’s up to us to make room for private interests. … But they didn’t consult me.”

With Democrats holding only 15 percent of the Legislature’s seats, they’re not often consulted. But Stennett takes some comfort in Gov. Phil Batt’s proposals this year to make the state Division of Environmental Quality into a full department, and grant “Outstanding Resource Water” protection to several segments of pristine river.

Former Democratic Gov. Cecil Andrus proposed a department of environmental resources his last year in office, Stennett said. And Stennett and other Democrats have long pushed for the resource water designation.

“So I guess we serve a function of some kind - we come up with good ideas for them.”

Fresh, pure, smoky air

Gov. Phil Batt, who likes to kid Attorney General Al Lance about Lance’s persistent smoking, had this to say at Lance’s re-election announcement this week:

“He’s a man, as you know, of high good humor, a very colorful fellow, a great lover of the outdoors. In fact, if we sit in a meeting too long, he suggests that we go outside.”

Let’s sit a while longer

When someone complained to Batt about a long Land Board meeting this week that stretched through the morning and into the afternoon, Batt smiled and cracked, “Like I always say, we don’t call it ‘Bored’ for nothing.”

A two-for-one from Newt

U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave Rep. Mike Crapo a freebie when he was in town for a fundraising dinner for Rep. Helen Chenoweth. Gingrich told the crowd, “I came here not only to ask you to support Helen, but to ask you to support Mike and make sure he gets elected to the Senate.” He also came to talk about his goals for the country. But the 400 Chenoweth supporters who paid $100 apiece to eat at the fundraising dinner might have thought their candidate was the main point.

When Gingrich was 5 minutes late showing up for his first speech, at a fundraiser for a private school, Chenoweth had to fill the time. She introduced her chief of staff. And hemmed and hawed a little. She said, “I think he got detoured - I may have to go out there myself.”

But later, when Chenoweth was 5 minutes tardy for her appearance at the dinner, Crapo had no problem filling the time. He started talking and rolled right through.

He didn’t ask for negative numbers

Gingrich said most Americans would say that in peacetime, 25 percent is a fair level for state, federal and local taxes combined. But when he asked the crowd at Chenoweth’s dinner how many thought 25 percent was reasonable, only a half-dozen or so raised their hands. No one said they wanted the number higher, and all raised their hands for lower.

To avoid the obvious conclusion that the crowd thought the reasonable level was zero, Gingrich was forced to tell them how he believed in government and didn’t mind paying some taxes.

He turned to Chenoweth and said, “You keep telling me this is a conservative state.”

, DataTimes MEMO: North-South Notes runs every other Saturday. To reach Betsy Z. Russell, call 336-2854, fax to 336-0021 or e-mail to bzrussell@rmci.net.