Poll finds support for ‘English only’

Seven in 10 Idahoans surveyed by Boise State University said they agree that the state should adopt an “English only policy.” The number was even higher in North Idaho – 75.4 percent. The BSU Public Policy Survey was released Thursday.

Some of the other findings:

“There was little agreement on whether Idaho should ban elk farms.

“Eighty percent said libraries are “very important.”

“Sixty-two percent think additional public funds should be used to help provide health insurance to those who can’t afford it.

“Sixty percent said the state is headed in the right direction, down from just under 64 percent last year.

Hail to the Chief

While introducing Coeur d’Alene Tribal Chairman Chief Allan at a Coeur d’Alene Tribe legislative reception, Bill Roden, the tribe’s lobbyist, noted that Chief is the chairman’s first name.

“He tells me that his mother had high expectations for him,” Roden told lawmakers to chuckles. “He’s also the proud father of Little Chief.”

Allan told the lawmakers, “We wanted to say thank you for you guys’ hard work. … We’re all Idahoans at the end of the day – we all live in this great state.”

Hail to the Broncos

The Idaho House voted unanimously for a resolution honoring the Boise State Broncos on their Fiesta Bowl win. HCR 7 passed 68-0.

During debate on the resolution, Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, sang a line from the state song, “Here We Have Idaho.” House Minority Leader Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, stood and draped a blue-and-orange feather boa around her shoulders and waved an orange and blue pompon. Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, called the Bronco win “a victory that reflects the entire state” but noted that the song Nielsen sang “was written by a Vandal.” Amid laughter, House Speaker Lawerence Denney said, “That’s non-debatable,” as House Majority Leader Mike Moyle rose to talk. “I was gonna object,” Moyle said, before telling his own story of going to the game and even getting high-fives and hugs afterward from Oklahoma fans.

New Rep. Branden Durst, D-Boise, said that as a graduate student at BSU, he’s seen how great the institution is from the inside. “I think if they cut me open my blood would be blue all the way through,” he said, adding, “I hope that Boise State and the other universities in the state of Idaho are given the opportunity to shine not only on the athletic field but in the academic arena as well.”

Right guy, wrong resume

The governor’s office issued a correction: Turns out the Steve Kren that Gov. Butch Otter appointed to the Legislature is NOT a Nampa city councilman; he’s the son of the Nampa city councilman who shares his name. “It happens all the time, I am told, because they’re both involved in politics, they’re both in Nampa, and they’re both named Steve Kren,” said a just slightly red-faced Mark Warbis, Otter’s communications director.

Warbis said Otter wasn’t confused about which Steve Kren he appointed – he appointed the son, who is under 30 and who was nominated by a party district committee.

Crackin’ down on dogfights

Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, says 48 states now make dog-fighting a felony – and Idaho’s one of the two that don’t. He met with a big group of advocates who want Idaho to change that.

Big drop in welfare recipients

Ten years after Idaho implemented welfare reform under then-Gov. Phil Batt, much has changed in the state’s welfare system, state Health and Welfare Director Dick Armstrong told lawmakers. In fiscal year 1996, Idaho averaged 23,000 adults and children on cash assistance. Today, there are 3,100 a month – and 85 percent of them are children whose parents “are unable to care for them because of substance abuse or incarceration,” Armstrong told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. There’s also high turnover on the program, with 8,100 people served in fiscal 2006, though the average was 3,100 a month. Two-thirds of adults on the program received welfare payments for three months or less.