Everybody, now: birthday wishes on the floor

The House was in mid-debate, when suddenly, without warning, Hayden Lake Rep. Jim Clark’s laptop computer started playing a sprightly electronic version of “Happy Birthday.”

All the legislators around Clark turned to look at him, and as the music continued, Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, shook a finger at Clark, who cowered behind his computer screen. Finally, the melody stopped.

Later, Clark explained that it wasn’t his birthday.

“It’s from my daughter – she’s a couple days late,” he said. “My birthday was last week.”

Clark, who turned 63, showed how he’d just clicked on an e-mail from his daughter with the subject line, “A belated birthday wish from Julianne.” But then he demonstrated how the e-mail contained a greeting card, and he’d clicked a link that said “PLAY.”

“I clicked ‘play,’ but I didn’t think it was music,” the red-faced legislator explained.

Another Otter initiative fails

The governor’s proposal to fund $15 million in new research grants through the Higher Education Research Council for research projects specifically aimed at economic development wasn’t even discussed as the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee set the budget for the state’s four-year colleges and universities last week.

All three proposals on the budget, which were hotly debated by committee members on other issues, set aside just $1.56 million for that purpose, rather than $15 million. There’s already money in the base budget for the research council, so that brings the research grants for next year up to $3 million.

The issue that caused the scuffling in the joint committee was occupancy costs for new higher education buildings. One proposal was to pay for some; another was to pay for more; a third was to pay for none. Lawmakers split, and in the end, they voted unanimously for the proposal to pay for some. They agreed that they need a more firm policy in the future on funding occupancy costs for such buildings.

The budget that was approved sets the state funding for four-year colleges and universities next year at $264.2 million, an 8.4 percent increase from this year. Gov. Butch Otter had called for spending $275.7 million, a 13.1 percent increase, but that included the one-time boost for research grants.

House wants just two election dates

The House has voted 40-30 for legislation to move all elections – from school bond votes to fire district contests – to the same dates as the November and May general and primary elections.

Members debated at length over House Bill 196, sponsored by House Tax Chairman Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot. Backers said the bill would increase voter participation in what otherwise could be overlooked contests.

Opponents said the change could be problematic for school districts and noted that it didn’t require consolidation of polling places, so voters could have to travel to multiple locations on Election Day to vote in the various district elections. The bill now moves to the Senate.

‘Politically loaded’ questions?

As budget writers were debating the budget for the Attorney General’s office, Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, noted that the Legislature is passing another parental consent abortion bill this year.

Past legislation on that topic has cost the state hundreds of thousands to defend, unsuccessfully, in court.

Hearing that the state’s special litigation fund contains about $2.1 million, Werk asked if the office has enough in reserve to cover more litigation in light of this year’s move.

“I’m not going to allow questions that are politically loaded,” Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, responded. Werk apologized and said he simply wanted to know if the office had enough in reserve to cover anticipated litigation in the coming year.

A staffer for the attorney general answered yes, based on current projections.