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Rep. Lake on governor’s task force |
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Wednesday, 24 June 2009 |
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By Chuck Oxley BLACKFOOT — Several eastern Idaho lawmakers, including Blackfoot Rep. Dennis Lake, will be among 15 legislative and industry leaders appointed by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter to broadly plan the future of a statewide “user pay” transportation system.
Transportation funding issues dominated the 2009 legislative session, extending the Legislature well into May and making it the second-longest session on record. During the battle of attrition, the Senate joined Otter in a gambit to raise transportation revenues through a variety of means, including gas tax and vehicle registration increases.
Otter had been clear in his State of the State message to the Legislature: he wanted to see revenue increases that were borne by those who used Idaho roads the most. He originally sought $174 million, mostly from 2-cent per gallon gas tax increases over five years.
But in the end, the conservative, tax-phobic House won the standoff as the final agreement included about $54 million earmarked for roads. However, much of that amount came through shifting funds away from other departments, repealing tax exemptions for ethanol and raising some administrative fees. The final bill also included the formation of the task force, but Lake said he doesn’t believe any recommendations from the special committee won’t come until after the 2010 session.
“We don’t even meet for the first time until August, and that doesn’t leave enough time to start writing legislation” for the upcoming session, Lake told the Morning News after the governor’s announcement on Tuesday.
November of 2010 is also Idaho’s next General Election, in which not only state lawmakers but the governor’s office and all state constitutional offices will stand for election by the people of the state.
In a prepared statement, Otter said in his announcement, “We all agree that jobs and prosperity depend on reliable and efficient roads. There is some heavy lifting ahead for this task force, but I’m confident the skills and experience being brought to the effort will yield solutions that reflect what Idaho can live with and grow on for years to come.”
Lake, the Republican chairman of the House Revenue and Tax Committee, is one of several eastern Idahoans on the task force. Also included is Republican JoAn Wood of Rigby, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, and Pocatello Democrat Edger Malepeai.
Many of the transportation projects are slated for the Treasure Valley and north Idaho locales. Asked whether he could think of any particular roads in eastern Idaho that needed special or emergency attention from the state of Idaho, Lake said, “The roads in eastern Idaho are in pretty good shape.”
Lake said he was just as concerned about the long-term process of determining which roads will built or repaired as he was with which state project would actually receive funding in the near term. Instead of allowing politicians to pick which projects should be funded first, that job should be left to the the professional highway engineers of the Idaho Transportation Department.
“Our roads have become too political,” Lake said.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 June 2009 )
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