Potlatch highway named after late solider

BOISE — Taco Tuesday at the joint budget committee featured a redo of some budget bills, along with a “fake news” complaint from Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin.

Plans to honor a Potlatch war hero also got a quick thumbs-up from a Senate committee, while a front license plate bill crashed and burned.

Details on some of the day’s activity:

The Senate Transportation Committee recommended approval of House Bill 162, which names a portion of State Highway 6 near Potlatch after Robert “Bobby” Chambers.

The legislation notes that Chambers served during the Vietnam War and earned a Silver Star and Purple Heart the same day he was killed, in November 1967. He was 19 years old.

Rep. Caroline Troy, R-Genesee, co-sponsored the bill, together with Sen. David Nelson, D-Moscow, and Rep. Brandon Mitchell, R-Moscow.

Nelson said Chambers’ family is raising money to provide signage for the section of highway, which runs from the western edge of Potlatch to the intersection with U.S. Highway 95.

The joint budget committee revised two bills that previously failed on the House floor.

The first provides spending authority for a $6 million federal preschool development grant.

The appropriation initially failed on the House floor 36-34, after Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, and others expressed concerns that the money might be used to teach “social justice and critical race theory” to young children. There were also concerns about oversight and parental involvement.

The joint budget committee approved a revised bill Tuesday on an 18-2 vote. It adds language requiring participation by parents and other stakeholders in deciding what will be taught.

Giddings and Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, continued to oppose the measure.

“I have a problem in establishing a state or federal role in pre-K (pre-kindergarten) education,” Nate said. “That’s probably best left to families and communities.”

The budget committee also approved a revised, $6 million supplemental budget for the state Catastrophic Health Care Program.

The program covers medical expenses for people who otherwise can’t afford treatment. Counties pay the first $11,000 of any claim, with the state picking up the remainder.

The $6 million is needed to pay claims approved in 2021.

The House rejected an earlier version of the bill on a 35-33 vote, in part because of objections related to the expanded Medicaid program.

Nate said supporters of expanded Medicaid promised it would eliminate any need for the catastrophic and indigent care system, but that hasn’t been the case.

Sen. Steve Bair, R-Blackfoot, reminded Nate that, before Medicaid expansion was approved, the state regularly spent $20 million to $40 million per year on catastrophic care.

“So we have seen a significant reduction,” he said.

And whatever one thinks of the program, Sen. Jeff Agenbroad, R-Nampa, reminded Nate that the $6 million is needed to cover expenses already incurred.

“I’m not one who takes kindly to defaulting on our obligations,” he said.

The committee approved the revised budget on another 18-2 vote, with Nate and Giddings opposed.

After redoing a couple of budgets and approving other appropriations, the joint budget committee also reconsidered Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin’s fiscal 2022 budget.

The committee previously cut her budget by $17,400, or 9.6 percent. It also eliminated one of the three full-time positions authorized for her office.

The reduction reflected the amount McGeachin had previously “reverted” or sent back to the general fund as unspent. The position that was cut had been vacant for a number of years.

McGeachin blasted the decision, accusing the committee of “kneecapping” her office and disrespecting Idaho’s first female lieutenant governor.

Sen. Steve Bair, R-Blackfoot, subsequently pulled the budget back to committee, offering McGeachin a chance at a do-over.

“We decided the best thing to do to refresh everyone’s memory was to go through the regular budget process (again),” Bair said Tuesday. “We’ll give the lieutenant governor an opportunity to make comments on her budget.”

McGeachin noted that, while the third staff position hadn’t been filled on a permanent basis, she frequently used it to hire part-time help. She encouraged the committee to rescind its earlier decision and approve her original budget request.

“The extent of the cut in the budget will have a direct impact on my ability to do my job and provide service for constituents,” McGeachin said. “It would be to the detriment of all the people of Idaho.”

Agenbroad said he’d been a member of the joint committee for five years and had never had an agency director or constitutional officer respond to a budget cut with such “derogatory” language.

McGeachin said the statement she release was “an expression of the way I perceived the action.”

“When you look at it, it was a 30 percent reduction in staff and a (nearly) 10 percent reduction in my budget,” she said. “I can’t see where that was justified. Nobody presented the case for that.”

She went on to suggest that the media was circulating “false information” about her, in an effort to “tarnish my reputation.”

Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, also suggested that the initial budget cut was more of a “political move” than a fiscal decision.

“There are political things going on here, and we should be frank about it,” he said.

The Senate Transportation Committee killed legislation that would have eliminated the requirement for front license plates on vehicles manufactured without a bracket or other device on which to secure them.

House Bill 158 was sponsored by Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, R-Lewiston, who noted that 20 other states don’t require front license plates.

The Idaho State Police and Idaho Fraternal Order of Police both testified in opposition to the legislation, saying the absence of a front plate would make it much more difficult for law enforcement officers to quickly locate suspects or identify stolen vehicles.

Clearwater County Sheriff Chris Goetz echoed those concerns, adding that there’s no way for officers to know which vehicles were or weren’t manufactured with a front bracket.

“This bill effectively ends the requirement for a front plate,” he said. “And on a rural, two-lane highway, when you’re trying to find a stolen vehicle or domestic abuse suspect, the front plate is crucial.”

Based on the law enforcement response, the committee agreed to hold the bill, effectively killing it for the year.

William L. Spence covers politics for the Lewiston Tribune. He may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.