Democratic lawmakers question misplaced priorities

Written by Idaho Democratic Legislative Caucus

The following is the Idaho Democratic Legislative Caucus’ response to Gov. Butch Otter’s State of the State message, delivered this morning by House Minority Leader John Rusche and Senate Assistant Minority Leader Kate Kelly.

(John Rusche) The legislative session has just begun, and like all Idahoans, we know that the economy is in crisis. Idaho families feel this in their own wallets, retirement accounts and squeezed budgets. Yesterday, Gov. Otter said that just as Idaho families and businesses are tightening their belts, but state government must also cut spending. Idaho Democrats agree.

A year ago, we stood here and spoke about the “do-nothing legislature of 2007” and how it left town with few real solutions to the serious problems facing Idaho. Well, in 2008 the legislature again failed to address our most pressing problems. Last fall, however, our chronically unfinished business collided with the worst economic downturn in decades, and now the crisis we all face is much worse. This year, as the Governor said, the legislature must take responsibility to preserve critical services for Idaho families and empower people to decide their own futures.

(Kate Kelly) We agree with the governor on the need for fiscal responsibility and smaller government. We applaud the move toward zero-based budgeting, the quest for more efficiency in the Idaho Transportation Department and the move toward reorganizing the Department of Education and State Board of Education. We like the idea of seeing whether the trucking industry is carrying its share of the costs for maintenance of our roads and bridges. In his remarks, Governor Otter offered a glimpse into the same sort of post-partisan future we are seeing take shape in Washington, D.C., and the wisdom of meeting in the middle whenever we can.

But we also saw many misplaced priorities – and missed opportunities - in what the governor had to say yesterday, and in the policies we’ve seen take hold so far during this budget crisis. For example, was it wise for the Idaho Tax Commission – at a time of plummeting revenues – to lay off 65 employees who were chasing after tax cheats? Is it wise to slash the Department of Commerce budget at a time when we need to attract new jobs and keep the ones we have? Is it smart to ask Idahoans to pay more for road maintenance while cutting school resources, the best engine we have for our future economic security?

(John) The Governor’s proposed budget is a lose-lose for the people of Idaho – cutting education and healthcare while raising taxes to fill potholes. In these troubled economic times it is just plain wrong. It’s wrong for Idaho’s struggling economy and its wrong for struggling Idaho families and businesses. Our goal this session will be to help our colleagues in the Majority face the issues responsibly. We will encourage the state to use Idaho taxpayer dollars for their highest and best use. We will not sacrifice our state’s long-term future for short-term gain, nor will we turn away ready resources that can equip Idahoans with the tools we need to quickly pull out of this recession.

The governor mentioned his reluctance to use very much of the state’s rainy day funds - our emergency funds. Our tax dollars created these rainy day funds; they’re there for a purpose. We’re well beyond raining; in fact we need a new ark., We need to use a portion of these funds at this time, and we must use them appropriately, to preserve critical services for Idaho families and keep our eyes on the horizon for when the economy improves.

Education is the best and most powerful road to economic opportunity, for our families and to attract and keep good businesses, yet it’s a road we won’t be able to travel if we make drastic cuts to public schools and higher education during this downturn. Like all Idahoans, we know that we must tighten the belt of state government. However, raising taxes for roads while severely cutting the budgets for education and healthcare is irresponsible. Idaho’s middle class families take personal responsibility for our households and deserve accountability and value for our dollars. We can’t ask our children to repeat the second grade because they can’t learn in overcrowded classrooms. We can’t ask jobless people to wait to learn new skills at our colleges and vocational-technical centers. But we can wait a year or two to fix our roads.

(Kate) As Idahoans, we’ve all been on a wild and terrifying ride this past year. Gas costs less than half today than it did six months ago, but higher costs for groceries and health insurance mean we’re still strapped, especially as our home values and retirement accounts shrink. Idaho’s jobless rate has doubled. Families are struggling to deal with job losses and with insecurity in the jobs they do hold. People are having trouble feeding their animals, never mind putting food on their own tables. This simply is not the time to raise taxes on Idaho families … not at the same time the governor is calling for drastic cuts to education and other essential services when we need them most.

Taking responsibility also includes trusting the people. Why can’t the legislature trust Idaho’s citizens and local communities to decide for themselves what local road and transportation projects to fund? Like most Idahoans, we believe in local control, local decisions and local responsibility. It’s time for this legislature to remove this roadblock to local road projects and approve local option authority without an unneeded and unwise Constitutional amendment.

Energy is one area on which we heard very little from the Governor yesterday. Just as the Majority Party has lacked the foresight to trust communities to solve local problems, the Legislature and the Governor have not done nearly enough to create clean, green jobs or address the reality of climate change. We are far behind our neighboring states, which are much better positioned to take advantage of the coming new energy economy with good, high wage jobs that will reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil tyrants while growing our economy.

(John) The governor talked about economic development, but he didn’t offer a true vision of how Idaho could lead the United States in becoming an innovator in renewable energy, agriculture or telecommunications solutions. We were troubled by the decision to cut the Department of Commerce budget at a time of growing challenges for Idaho businesses. The governor also didn’t say much about the need to extend broadband to rural communities where unemployment rates are running as high as 10 percent above the state average. These are areas that deserve our attention now. If we can use this current crisis as a time to draw the players together and face these long-neglected issues, our communities and families will emerge stronger from this recession.

Like all Idahoans, we sense we are at a historic crossroads. Next week, our nation will see a new administration come into office, determined to reach across party lines to put America back to work, help us afford health care, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, keep our nation safe and make our schools among the world’s best again. For the first time in more than a dozen years, Idaho has sent a bipartisan delegation to Congress and they, too, have pledged to get things done together. So do us.

(Kate) The legislature has a solemn obligation to each Idahoan. We must not sell our future short with ill-advised cuts to critical services. We must trust our people and our communities to make their own decisions. We must believe in the wisdom and ingenuity of Idaho families to not just survive this current crisis, but to walk through the door of opportunity that we’ll hold open – a door to a better future for our children.