GOP caucus just ‘family business’
House Republicans caucused behind closed doors for an hour Wednesday and a cagey GOP Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, refused to say what they were talking about for so long, beyond some discussion of housekeeping issues and an upcoming legislative council election.
“That’s just the way it’s gonna run,” Roberts said. “When families have delicate issues that they need to deal with, they have a family meeting, and they don’t involve the neighbors.”
House Democrats caucused at the same time for about half an hour, with doors open to the public, and dealt mostly with administrative details.
Roberts said, “The issues of the state of Idaho was not a topic of discussion in the caucus, and I can guarantee you that if there are decisions that need to be made, they’re going to be made out in the open and in the public’s eyes so that they have the opportunity to testify and comment on those issues.”
Freshman Democratic Rep. Les Bock, of Boise, speculating about his Republican colleagues, said, “They were talking about giving us that extra JFAC (Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee) seat, right?” To which Rep. Donna Boe, D-Pocatello, responded, “I bet that’s what it was.”
Big moving job on hold
Imagine every file, every chair, every creaky old desk in the Capitol needing to be packed up and moved. That’s what was to happen April 1 this year for the Statehouse renovation.
“Every piece of furniture in this building is going to be moved, stored or given to surplus. Everything has to be cleaned out for the restoration,” budget analyst Eric Milstead told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee Wednesday morning.
Outside, workers who surrounded the building with high fences last week had completed several wells that would be needed to add two 50,000-square-foot underground wings, part of the $130 million project that would include a complete renovation of the existing 100-year-old Capitol. They had planned to move excavation equipment onto the site soon.
Then on Friday, Gov. Butch Otter made good on his campaign promise to fight expansion of the Capitol by issuing a stop-work order on the construction.
Otter has said he wants more time to negotiate with lawmakers in the Legislature over the plan approved last year 33-2 in the state Senate and 40-28 in the House.
Let the pros choose
In his State of the State speech Monday, Otter talked about Idaho’s ongoing effort to fund major highway improvements through the GARVEE bonding program.
He said he’s seen plenty of “bridges to nowhere” funded in Congress, where he served the past six years. That’s why he wants to leave the choice of projects to professionals, not politicians.
When it comes to transportation “my priorities are pretty simple,” Otter said. “No. 1, where are we killing people? Let’s fix those as soon as possible.” No. 2, he said, is to deal with traffic congestion.
Was it a joke?
There was a little pause in Otter’s big speech when he spoke of his plan for a new “sprung structure” to help house Idaho’s overflowing prison inmate population.
The pause came after he talked about “exploring other innovative ways to address prison crowding – including the pro tem’s idea for hot-bunking.”
Senate President Pro Tem Bob Geddes started clapping loudly, and chuckling lawmakers joined in. Geddes suggested last year that “hot cots” – the idea of having inmates sleep in shifts, thus using fewer beds – was a viable option for prison crowding, and the idea drew widespread publicity.
A new drug czar
Former state Rep. Debbie Field, who managed Otter’s gubernatorial campaign, will be the state’s new drug czar, the governor announced.
Field is the former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Otter pointed to her “obvious skill in shaping public opinion and turning it into action.” He said former drug czar Jim Tibbs has decided to focus more of his energy on his role as a Boise city councilman.