From the Idaho Statesman

Ahead of Wednesday’s House vote, tea party and GOP groups have been fighting the business establishment.

By DAN POPKEY — dpopkey@idahostatesman.com

Using direct mail, radio spots and computer-generated phone calls, opponents of Gov. Butch Otter’s health insurance exchange bill are waging a campaign to try to reverse the momentum after last month’s 23-12 Senate vote.

Their efforts are dwarfed by dozens of lobbyists backing the exchange, led by the insurance and health care industries and broad-based business groups.

But the appeal to conservative Republican voters who will decide the 2014 legislative primaries has captured the attention of lawmakers.

“They’re saying we’re bought and paid for by the insurance companies,” said House Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Fred Wood, R-Burley, a target of a tea party mailer last week.

Wood, a physician, is the floor sponsor of House Bill 248, which is scheduled for debate Wednesday.

The heart of the opposition strategy is coupling hostility to the Affordable Care Act with Otter’s decision to cooperate with the federal government and operate the online insurance marketplace in Idaho, rather than leave the job to the feds.

“Idaho’s version of Obamacare is now before the Idaho Legislature, and it’s bad,” says a voice in a robocall that lets recipients automatically connect to lawmakers’ phone lines. “You can help stop it by telling your legislator to vote no on HB 248.”

Though the calls lack the legally required disclosure of the message’s sponsor, they came from Gem State Tea Party, said the group’s Boise president, Chad Inman. He founded the Gem State Tea Party last year, uniting 13 groups statewide. He said calls were made to all 35 legislative districts.

GOP LEADERS INVOLVED

Inman’s ally is the Idaho Business Alliance, founded in January by conservative Boise businessman and GOP funder George Gersema, Bonneville County Republican Chairman Doyle Beck and former GOP redistricting commissioner Lorna Finman of Post Falls.

Another former redistricting commissioner, political consultant Lou Esposito of Star, is helping with direct mail and radio.

“Too many in Boise say we have no choice but to submit to the economic destruction built into the very structure of Obamacare,” reads a Business Alliance postcard urging citizens to call lawmakers.

Last week, a mailer from Gem State Tea Party went to 4,000 recipients in the Magic Valley legislative district represented by three prominent Otter allies: Wood, R-Burley; House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley; and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert.

The postcard indicates that the trio “are leading the effort over in Boise to impose Obamacare on the people of Idaho.” Pictured are piles of cash behind a “Show Us the Money” headline, along with an accounting of health, insurance and medical industry campaign contributions to the lawmakers.

“The garden path to Obamacare has been laid by tens of thousands of dollars to Idaho politicians over the past several years,” according to the mailer.

Cameron, an insurance agent, objects, noting that Otter and the GOP-controlled Legislature heartily backed the lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act. “We’ve been opposed to it all along,” said Cameron. “But we lost in court and we lost the presidential election.”

Exchange proponents – including Blue Cross, Idaho Hospital Association, Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, and local chambers of commerce – say Idaho is better off running its own exchange, even under federal rules.

Beck, an Idaho Falls businessman, distrusts the powerful economic interests arrayed behind the exchange, asking, “Have you ever known anything favorable to the insurance industry that was also good for you and me?”

Cameron was among a group of GOP incumbents unsuccessfully targeted for defeat in 2012 by political action committees run by consultant Esposito. Cameron said the new campaign doesn’t prompt him to shy from the issue, though it might signal another serious primary challenge next year.

“If anything, it cements our resolve,” Cameron said. “We firmly believe the governor made the right decision and we’re standing behind him.”

GAPS IN SUNSHINE LAW

Campaign and lobbying spending by exchange proponents are disclosed under Idaho law. But spending by Gem State Tea Party and the Business Alliance can’t yet be quantified.

“They know what they’re doing,” said Secretary of State Ben Ysursa.

Tea Party Boise has a lobbyist, but he is unpaid, exempting the group from disclosure. Gersema told Ysursa’s office that the Business Alliance has no paid lobbyists and the group is funding the mailings itself, exempting it from monthly lobbying reports.

Esposito will have to report his PAC spending, but not until annual reports for 2013 are due on Jan. 31, 2014.

“No, I’m not disclosing a dime,” said Inman. “That’s the beauty of it.”

Said Esposito: “The amount of money we have spent on postcards and radio ads is a spit in the ocean compared to the money spent by Blue Cross, IACI, IHA and others on lobbyists, legislators and their media campaigns. When you factor in the complicity of a nonobjective news media, our efforts pale in comparison.”

Ysursa said he’s exploring possible amendments to the Sunshine Law in 2014. “What’s being done is lobbying; it’s pertaining to legislation, it doesn’t pertain to candidates,” he said.

Speaker Bedke said he’s also interested in tightening the law. “I am not comfortable with the large gaps of time in the reporting schedule. I think the public has a right to know,” he said.

Bedke remains optimistic that HB 248 will pass.

“With very few exceptions, they’ll vote their conscience, regardless of the pressure,” he said. “I haven’t seen a lot of legislators knuckle under.

Dan Popkey: 377-6438, Twitter: @IDS_politics

From the Idaho Statesman

From the Idaho Newspaper Foundation

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2013 Max Dalton Open Government Award sponsored by the Idaho Newspaper Foundation.

The 2013 award will be the 15th annual award given each year since 1999 to a citizen or group judged to be an outspoken advocate of openness in either public records or public meetings on the state or local level.

Nominations should be submitted by March 22 by sending a letter of nomination to starnews@frontier.com. Go to www.idnewsfound.org for more information and profiles of previous recipients.

The letter should provide a general description of the nominee’s dedication to open government and cite specific examples of the nominee’s use of the Idaho Open Meeting Law or the Idaho Public Records Law to advance the public interest. Examples can include links to newspaper articles or testimonials from citizens or public officials.

The Max Dalton Open Government Award has frequently been awarded in the past to citizen activists. However, activism by itself is not sufficient to receive the award, INF Executive Director Tom Grote said. Nominees must have demonstrated their use of the state’s open meetings or open records laws in support of their activism, said Grote, who is also publisher of The Star-News in McCall.

From the Idaho Newspaper Foundation

From the Idaho Statesman

Records requests by an armed man whose actions caused a stir last month – as well as new rules on public access – helped prompt a push to change Idaho law.

By DAN POPKEY — dpopkey@idahostatesman.com

From the Idaho Statesman

From The Spokesman-Review

Idaho’s cash-strapped courts are looking to go all-electronic in the future to save money and serve the public better.

State courts Administrator Patti Tobias told lawmakers Monday the courts have increasingly been using technology to gain efficiencies, and plan next year to bring the Legislature a proposal to allow Idahoans to “complete much of their court business in real time online, 24/7, without going to the courthouse.”

She said, “You will file court cases, pay your traffic ticket if you got one, find out when a case is scheduled for hearing, check criminal records, and view documents filed in a case – all electronically. … Idahoans will see better access, greater convenience, and more information.”

Meanwhile, an emergency surcharge on all Idaho offenders may be made permanent, now that it makes up more than $4 million of Idaho’s annual court system funding. The surcharge was enacted in 2010 to partially offset $5 million in budget cuts to the state’s courts, keeping the state’s courthouse doors open. “These critical services cannot be maintained at their present levels, however, without continued support from the emergency surcharge,” Tobias said.

After holding off for five years on added much-needed additional judges, the courts are requesting three new district judges next year and two new magistrate positions.

Tobias told legislative budget writers, “We are absolutely committed to finding innovative and efficient ways to meet the needs of Idahoans, using the resources that you have provided.”

From The Spokesman-Review

Editorial from the Idaho Statesman

It’s time for the Idaho Legislature to eliminate those closed-door caucus meetings. The timing for taking such action has rarely been better.

Secret sessions simply are not necessary in today’s Legislature, and they add nothing to the process but suspicion and mistrust. In this day of texts, tweets and emails, closed caucus meetings are as outdated as rotary telephones.

So kick the habit and get rid of them. Abolishing closed-door sessions would send the right message at a time when lawmakers are paying more attention to applying higher standards to themselves. Lawmakers gathered last week for ethics training, a first in Idaho and hopefully not a last.

The personalities are in place to make it happen. House Speaker Scott Bedke and Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill are capable leaders, but they are not —and don’t pretend to be — party bosses. On the Democratic side, Rep. John Rusche and Sen. Michelle Stennett are congenial people who hardly fit the profile of arm-twisters.

Over the years, legislators have given a lot of reasons (more like excuses) for having closed-door sessions. The meetings have been viewed as an opportunity for legislators to gather in a relaxed setting, let their hair down and say what’s on their minds without worrying about being quoted by pesky reporters. There have been times in Idaho’s history when leaders used closed sessions to bring caucus members in line on certain issues.

The landscape is much different from the days of smoke-filled rooms. Top leaders have many ways to make their views clear on issues, including old-fashioned press releases and guest editorials. As for the rank-and-file members, they vote the way they want and are not shy about expressing their views through social networks and other outlets. Today’s legislators generally don’t respond well to edicts, threats or party discipline. Judging by the participation at the ethics-training session (Bedke made it clear that attendance was mandatory), there’s more sensitivity these days to issues of public trust and accountability.

Idaho politicians have had their share of dark moments over the years, including Sen. Monty Pearce’s failure to disclose his oil interests before voting on new laws governing the petroleum industry; former Sen. John McGee’s escapades with drinking and inappropriate conduct with a staffer, and allegations of sexual harassment; former Rep. Phil Hart’s refusal to pay taxes; and U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo’s recent drunken driving arrest. Last year, the Senate State Affairs Committee created another embarrassment by refusing to even consider legislation brought forth by supporters of the “Add the Words” campaign.

Former Iowa State Rep. Scott Raecker, who spoke at the ethics session, challenged Idaho lawmakers to “raise the bar” on ethical standards and have the courage to break from tradition in the effort to promote an atmosphere of trust and accountability.

Republican and Democratic leaders in Idaho should answer that challenge and abolish those outdated secret meetings.

“Our View” is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman’s editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, email editorial@idahostatesman.com.

Editorial from the Idaho Statesman

From the Associated Press

By REBECCA BOONE, Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The former attorneys for convicted murderer Joseph Duncan are asking a judge to let them testify in secret about whether Duncan was mentally competent during his death penalty hearing four years ago.

Duncan’s current attorneys — not the lawyers who represented him in 2008 — filed a motion Sunday in Boise’s U.S. District Court asking a judge to either close the courtroom for the former attorneys to testify or to allow them to testify at another private location.

Such secrecy is needed, the attorneys say, to keep from scaring other clients, who may fear that their lawyers will someday reveal protected information about them in court.

“The solution for this problem is for the court to allow defense witnesses who are subject to the attorney-client privilege to testify outside the presence of the public,” Duncan’s attorneys wrote in their motion to the court.

Duncan snatched 9-year-old Dylan Groene and Dylan’s younger sister from their Wolf Lodge, Idaho, home after murdering several of their family members in 2005. He kept the children at a remote Montana campsite for weeks before he shot Dylan and returned with Dylan’s sister to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where he was arrested.

He was convicted in state court of murdering the children’s family members and sentenced to life in prison without parole. His crimes against the two children were handled in federal court, where Duncan pleaded guilty, represented himself, and was sentenced to death.

In 2011, however, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal judge should have held a hearing to determine if Duncan was competent when he waived his right to appeal his sentence. Last week U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge began presiding over a retrospective competency hearing, designed to help him decide if Duncan was competent back in 2008.

Duncan’s defense team first raised the possibility that his former attorneys may try to testify in secret last week — a proposal that federal prosecutors said caught them by surprise.

At the time, U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson told the judge that federal policy bars her from agreeing to a closed courtroom without getting prior approval from leaders with the U.S. Department of Justice, a process that can take weeks.

Olson has until later this week to file a response to Duncan’s motion.

From the Associated Press

From The Spokesman-Review

BOISE – Idaho’s governor and state controller unveiled a new state government transparency website Thursday, with extensive data about the state’s finances and workforce that’s automatically updated every night.

“We’ve always provided our public information whenever it’s requested, but this allows the citizens to quickly get to it without having to come through the office,” said state Controller Brandon Woolf, who at 40 is the youngest statewide official in Idaho. “They get right to the data.”

Perhaps most remarkably, the transparency site was set up within the controller’s existing budget – with no additional appropriation of state funds.

“Compared to other states, they have spent millions to do their state transparency websites,” Woolf said. “To this point, we have done it within our existing budget.”

The new transparent.idaho.gov site features myriad charts and graphs, tons of detail to dig into, and is searchable by cross-tabs including agency, county and more. “There’s thousands and thousands of reports that are available and that are out there now,” Woolf said.

Gov. Butch Otter compared it to public records requests “on steroids,” and said it’ll put state financial data “just a click away.” He called the new site “a very important big step in transparency in state government.”

“We’ve been able to enable the existing technology that we have in our office,” Woolf explained, including a data warehouse that has financial, personnel and payroll data the state controller receives from state agencies. “So when state agencies key in financial information, personnel or payroll information, it’s updated nightly as it goes through the process into our systems and into the data warehouse, and eventually to the website.”

Woolf, who has a political science degree and an MBA, has worked at the controller’s office since starting as an intern in 1997. He was named chief of staff in 2011, and was appointed state controller in October.

He said work on the transparency site started last spring. “At that point it was just some conceptual ideas,” Woolf said, crediting “some brilliant individuals” on his staff who came up with new ways to use their existing technology. “I really appreciate their hard work and their smart ideas,” he said; he introduced and recognized his staffers at a press conference Thursday with the governor in the state Capitol.

Woolf said the transparency site is a work in progress, and doesn’t yet have a capability he’d like to see: A searchable, online version of the state’s checkbook, enabling citizens to look up how much an agency spent on a particular vendor. Getting to that point will require an additional investment, he said; he may request funds for that next year, “if there’s an opportunity down the road to make it a more useful tool for the citizens.”

Woolf was appointed state controller Oct. 15 after former Controller Donna Jones resigned to focus on recovering from serious injuries suffered in a car accident. Woolf will serve out Jones’ term and has already said he plans to then seek election in his own right.

A humble Woolf said at the press conference, “Gov. Otter has continued to ensure that there are no dark corners in government spending,” and added, “I would like to thank my staff whose hard work and dedication and bright ideas made this possible.”

Otter said he expects some savings for the state due to fewer formal public records requests, because they’re seeking data that’s now readily available. “If we can lessen that … time and expense … plus provide the transparency that we should provide for the people of Idaho, I think there’s going to be some economies and some savings in that,” the governor said.

From The Spokesman-Review

Editorial from the Idaho Statesman

Published: December 11, 2012

Question: Where are public comments not suitable for public viewing? Answer: In the alternative governing world of the Ada County commissioners.

The Statesman filed a public records request for 150 written comments on the controversial Dynamis waste-to-energy plant proposal. We haven’t received the comments, just a letter saying it will cost $110 to provide them.

Why? The county wants its lawyers to sift through the comments and black out any “protected information.”

Who are the lawyers trying to protect? The Ada County residents who finally got their say on this project — nearly 2-1/2 years after Ada County gave Dynamis $2 million in public money to design this plant? Doubtful.

In this case, it appears, the lawyers aren’t working for the taxpayers. Instead, they seem to be doing the bidding of two of their bosses at the courthouse, commissioners Sharon Ullman and Rick Yzaguirre, who have shown disdain for the public and disrespect for the public process throughout this long, sorry Dynamis saga.

Let’s remember, after all, that Ada County residents only got a chance to comment when the planning and zoning commission opted to hold a hearing last month. The hearing wasn’t the commissioners’ idea, so perhaps they’re so out of practice that they’ve forgotten the function of a public process.

Which is, of course, to let the public have a say about this unpopular and unproven plan to “gasify” Ada County landfill garbage into electricity. Ullman and Yzaguirre may be sold on Dynamis — but Ullman lost in the May GOP primary, and public outcry over the proposal was certainly a factor.

Instead of slowing down the process, and allowing a full and transparent review of the project, Yzaguirre and Ullman seem determined to push Dynamis through the bureaucratic pipeline before Ullman’s term ends in January — and before the balance of power shifts on the three-member commission.

So what does the county have to hide? Is there something in these public comments that Yzaguirre and Ullman want to conceal from public view, while they continue to railroad this dubious project? When elected officials squander their credibility, as Yzaguirre and Ullman have, their motives are subject to questions of this type.

There is at least some hope on the horizon.

On Thursday, the Statesman hosted a workshop, led by Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, to brief reporters, elected officials and the public about Idaho sunshine laws. Among those in attendance: commissioner David Case, the courthouse’s one steadfast Dynamis skeptic, and commissioner-elect Jim Tibbs.

Perhaps, when Tibbs joins Case, Ada County will again have a quorum of commissioners who believe the public has a right to know what’s going on in the courthouse.

Now there’s a concept.

“Our View” is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman’s editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, email editorial@idahostatesman.com.

Editorial from the Idaho Statesman