North Idaho well-represented

For the past decade, North Idaho has been regularly disappointed by a shortage of area lawmakers in key legislative posts.

Not this year.

In a major breakthrough, North Idahoans landed important committee assignments in the Senate Thursday. President Pro-tem Robert Geddes, R-Soda Springs, deserves credit for eschewing the seniority system in some cases and shifting problem children in others. The 10 northern counties now hold four of 10 Senate chairmanships and the vice chairmanship of the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee.

“If you look at our chairmanships this year,” Geddes said, “I think they’re a very good, balanced distribution from across the state.”

Certainly, the balance is better in the Senate than in the House, where the five northern counties held onto the chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee. The Senate appointments, along with Coeur d’Alene Democrat George Sayler’s rise to minority House leader, mean regional legislators will be in key spots to lobby for school funding and highway improvements, to protect North Idaho’s water resources, to push for property tax relief, and to fight for a broader local-option sales tax.

Importantly, North Idaho achieved quality as well as quantity in the Senate appointments.

No one is in a better position – or better qualified – to help North Idaho than fifth-term Republican Shawn Keough, the new vice chairman of the budget committee. A selfless legislator, Keough gave up a chance to chair the Transportation Committee for the budget post, where she can guide funding decisions that affect North Idaho College, the Silver Valley, Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Rathdrum Aquifer.

Also, North Idahoans who support school choice should be excited that Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, was named to replace Sen. Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, as chairman of the Education Committee. Schroeder, an outspoken opponent of Idaho’s popular charter school system, was shifted to chairman of the Resources and Environment Committee. Goedde, a former Coeur d’Alene school trustee, supports alternative forms of education and should bring a more even-handed approach to the job.

Sen. Dick Compton, R-Coeur d’Alene, proved to be a whiz at streamlining government while protecting the indigent as a Kootenai County commissioner. Those skills will come in handy as he takes over as Health and Welfare Committee chairman. The panel faces the hard task of keeping the rapidly growing health and welfare budget under control while meeting the needs of the state’s most vulnerable residents.

North Idaho has the right people in the right spots at the right time.