‘A powerful lobby…’

Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the rejection today of legislation to raise Idaho’s beer and wine tax to pay for substance abuse treatment. Among the tidbits in the story: Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, suggested that rather than focus on treatment, perhaps Idaho should focus on education and prevention, and look to the Idaho Meth Project as a model for how to approach alcohol abuse. That project includes a statewide “Not Even Once” ad campaign. Rep. JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, who fervently urged her fellow lawmakers to support the bill, said, “This is a powerful lobby that’s been lobbying us. … I resent having people in my district come to me and tell me they’ve been threatened with losing their jobs (if the bill passes). … I think that is unconscionable.”