Prison ‘hot cots’ idea is drawing global interest
Senate President Pro-Tem Bob Geddes has gotten calls from reporters around the world about his idea of “hot cots,” or having prison inmates sleep in shifts to make better use of crowded prison facilities. “It’s been pretty fascinating,” Geddes said. “It’s gotten a little more attention than I ever expected or wanted.”
The calls have come from all over the country and as far away as London and Australia. “I did better with the London ones,” Geddes said. “Those Australians have a real strong accent.”
Geddes said he’s not planning to propose any legislation on hot cots, but thinks it’s a concept Idaho should keep in mind as it expands prison facilities, so they can be used more efficiently.
They let Dell do it
House Revenue and Tax members are chortling over how they got Rep. Dell Raybould, R-Rexburg, to make the motion Thursday to introduce a property tax reform bill that closes a tax loophole for developers and land speculators. The loophole opened after Raybould originally brought legislation designed to help farmers, and his bill got off track, was amended, and morphed into the loophole. Attempts to fix it made it worse, to the point that now, owners of million-dollar resort lots at the new Tamarack Resort are paying just pennies in property taxes – and their neighbors are picking up the difference. Raybould has been none too happy with the mess. As the committee Thursday made motions to introduce 12 property tax bills, one after the other, they came to the one from an interim committee to close that loophole. There was a pause, and everyone looked at Raybould. Then he made the motion, and the bill was introduced.
Here’s why they hurried
The Senate wasn’t scheduled to vote on the immediate, permanent, merit-based 3 percent raises for state employees Thursday – but they did. The bill, SB 1263, was on the second reading calendar in the Senate on Thursday, which meant it normally would have come up for a vote Friday, when it reached the third reading calendar. However, senators decided to suspend their rules and vote Thursday “so the House could get it soon, so we could get it out to our state employees by the first pay period in February,” said Senate President Pro Tem Bob Geddes. That was what Gov. Dirk Kempthorne asked for. “We did that so we could comply with what the governor requested, and with what the state employees expect that we’d do,” Geddes said.
Blame the Democrats anyway
Gov. Dirk Kempthorne Wednesday inexplicably released a rebuttal to comments last Tuesday – the day after his State of the State message – by Democratic legislative leaders critical of his proposed $50-a-head energy rebate.
“I fully expected a rational discussion on my proposal to provide immediate energy assistance to Idaho families at a time when they most need it. I’ve heard first-hand the eagerness Idahoans have for this relief during my travels around the state in recent days,” the governor wrote. “Instead, Democratic leaders have been dismissive and turned a deaf ear to my plan to help Idahoans with the rising costs of natural gas, electricity and gasoline. These out-of-touch Democratic leaders have even called my plan to provide relief to hard-working Idahoans a ‘gimmick.’ “
That was, in fact, the term Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, used for the proposal in his response the morning after the governor’s speech. But a lot of the lack of enthusiasm around the Statehouse in the past week over Kempthorne’s proposal has actually been coming from lawmakers from his own party – the Republicans.
Bargains galore
Wednesday was “Buy Idaho” day at the capitol, which means the capitol rotunda, on three floors, was packed with displays and free samples of Idaho products, from huckleberry hand lotion to potent salsas to pickled dilly beans.
Legislators were among the happy crowds checking out and trying the wares, but leave it to a lobbyist to rain on the parade: “It looks just like a flea market,” one muttered.