North Idaho legislators are positioned to serve their constituents well in the 2007 Legislature.

Shawn Keough, the respected Republican senator from Sandpoint who’ll be entering her sixth term, again turned down the chance to head the Senate Transportation Committee to remain as the vice chairwoman of powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. Both Republican chairmen of the legislative education committees hail from Coeur d’Alene: Sen. John Goedde and Rep. Bob Nonini.

Local legislators hold another chairmanship as well as their share of vice chairmanships and important committee assignments.

Little by little, North Idaho has gained clout and key legislative assignments in proportion to its increasing population and seniority. In recent years, the region’s new political muscle has been crucial as regional legislators have lobbied successfully for property tax relief, upgrading U.S. Highway 95 and construction funding for the North Idaho College Meyer Health and Sciences Building. The North Idaho delegation should be stronger still as it works to tweak legislation that provided property tax relief, to win more U.S. 95 reconstruction funding, and to protect the region’s water.

Importantly, Republican legislators from North Idaho should eschew hard-right ideology in favor of the moderation that has made them successful.

The 2007 Legislature may be more conservative than its predecessor, despite gaining six House Democrats. Spokesman-Review staff writer Betsy Russell noted in her Eye On Boise blog that Republicans still hold supermajority edges in both chambers and that several moderate Republicans were defeated in the November election. As a result, legislative leadership has moved to the right with social conservative Lawerence Denney replacing moderate House Speaker Bruce Newcomb. One of Denney’s first moves was to short-change Democratic representation on the budget committee.

Denney’s decision to assign only two Democrats to the budget committee from the House rather than the three the minority party deserved by proportion could be a sign that conservative Republicans will take advantage of their lopsided numbers. That could mean the Legislature will spin its wheels again this year tackling some portion of the never-ending abortion debate. Or that the relationship between the Legislature and Idaho’s five Indian tribes will worsen. Or that Nonini will try again to pass troublesome legislation that would require high school students to get parental permission before joining a school club.

Nonini, who otherwise served his region well last session, pushed the school-club bill in response to the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance at Lake City High. The bill squeaked through the House before dying in Goedde’s Senate Education Committee.

North Idaho legislators should check their impulses to pursue personal agendas rather than focus on the important issues of their constituents and region. Also, they should serve as a brake on legislative leaders who have personal agendas, too.