There is a storm brewing in the Idaho Legislature over the creation of a state-based health exchange program. Lawmakers have some serious questions about how it will operate and the effect it will have on the insurance marketplace.

More specifically, Rep. Janice McGeachin, R-IdahoFalls, told IdahoReporter.com that she is concerned about the subsidies handed out through the exchange and how health insurance agents will fare if the program is implemented.

One of the reasons a number of groups are pushing the exchange is the subsidies it will provide for consumers, paid directly to insurance companies on their behalf. Families of four earning up to $88,000 annually will qualify for federal subsidies, but only if they go through the exchange to purchase their insurance.

While McGeachin sees the positives of families having access to artificially cheaper insurance plans, she worries about the overall fiscal impact of subsidies. “Our country is bankrupt,” McGeachin said. “Our country is going broke, and that’s before this thing (federal health reforms) goes into effect.”

The Kaiser Foundation explains that subsidies could cost at least $350 billion between 2010 and 2019. It’s unclear how much Idahoans would collectively receive each year from the subsidies.

McGeachin says her concern is about the amount of funding that will pass through the exchange. “It’s a lot of money that’s at stake,” she said. “We have some big issues, some big questions, some big decisions we’re going to have to make.”

As the chairwoman noted, subsidies will only be available through the exchange, meaning that Idahoans looking for the best deal on insurance will likely use the program.

But that could leave insurance agents out in the cold.

Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, an insurance agent, joked last week at the end of a health care task force meeting that the exchange would likely lower his income. But the reality of his statement isn’t a joke.

Penny Schwiebert, project manager with the Department of Insurance, told attendees at a December exchange learning session that subsidies are the sole reason families would purchase insurance through the program rather than use an agent.

It’s unclear how any ofIdaho’s more than 5,000 health insurance agents will interact with the exchange program. The exchange itself is planning on hiring navigators, or workers who cannot receive commissions from insurance companies, but rather are paid directly by the state. Navigators will serve a similar mission as agents do, including outreach and public education efforts.

McGeachin says even state lawmakers who work in the insurance industry don’t know how they are supposed to handle the exchanges and its clientele. “They don’t know how to answer that question,” McGeachin said.

She warns that if the state pursues creation of the exchange, legislators will have to be careful about the relationship between the exchange, navigators, and agents. “The law really only clarifies what the role of the navigators is,” McGeachin said. “But it really doesn’t address the role of the agent. I don’t think people really know yet how that’s supposed to work.”

McGeachin plans to safeguard against the exchange sending customers to some agents or companies over others.

Video for the interviews by Mitch Coffman, IdahoReporter.com.

Almost $60 million of the money will go to public schools, which is required since the state took hundreds of millions in federal stimulus money in 2009 and more than $50 million for educators’ jobs last year.  Those federal strings also require the state to give $7.5 million to Idaho’s three community colleges.

An additional $15 million will pay for the next increase in the grocery tax credit, which would give most Idahoans an additional $10 on top of the current $50 they currently receive.  Seniors and poor Idahoans get $70 in the grocery tax credit, which would also rise by $10.

State officials are pleased by the good news, as revenues were $19.1 million above expectations last month.  Some did question Gov. Butch Otter’s decision on the grocery tax credit.  “I’m grateful for the revenue growth,” Otter said. “But I still think that we’re a long way from out of the woods.”

“I thank the Legislature and Gov. Otter for their fiscally responsible approach to budgeting and continued commitment that Idaho public schools will receive the first dollars available,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna.  “Now, we are able to distribute $60 million in additional funds to our schools, which will more than cover the $47 million shortfall school districts were going to face in the upcoming year.”

Money will go to local schools based roughly on how many students they teach.  Districts in Idaho’s 10 largest cities and several other sizable districts will all get more than $1 million apiece, topping out with Meridian’s $7.5 million.  For a full list of district’s surplus payments, click here.

Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, one of the leading budget writers, said districts need to be prudent with the funds.  “They should consider the money one time in nature, so I would discourage them from trying to use it on ongoing expenses,” he said.  He cautioned that districts could see a drop in state funding for teachers’ salaries due to the school reform plan lawmakers approved this year.

The community college money will be divvied up by enrollment growth, so the state’s newest college, the College of Western Idaho, will get $5 million of the $7.5 million pie.

“There hasn’t been a decision as to how the money will be spent,” said CWI spokeswoman Jennifer Couch.  She said the school’s board will discuss how to spend the money at a meeting next week.  “We are taking a look at a number of different options, since we’ve had increased expenses due to our enrollment growth.”

Before lawmakers knew about the surplus, they passed a resolution asking the governor to freeze the grocery tax credit.  Now that there’s extra money, Otter said he won’t follow that request.  “That’s one of the promises we made long ago, and we’ve desperately tried to keep it,” the governor said about increasing the tax credit.

“That’s pretty much the governor’s decision,” said Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, though he added that he generally agreed with the decision.  “Sixty seven million dollars for public education and $15 million back to the taxpayers seems like a pretty good compromise to me.”

Cameron said that if it was his call, that money would go elsewhere.  “If it were left to my choice, I would probably restore some of the reductions in health districts and the Department of Health and Welfare (DHW),” he said.

Democratic House Minority Leader John Rusche of Lewiston also questioned putting the surplus to the grocery tax credit.  He said the money could go to other state programs, including DHW programs for the poor and disabled, probations and parole programs as well as building and maintenance programs that have been put off during the economic downturn.

“Is giving this tax credit the best way to use this money?”  Rusche asked.  “Those questions will persist.”

The $85 million surplus amounts to 3 percent of the state’s $2.44 billion in general fund tax revenues for the past year.  The surplus arose when lawmakers set their revenue to a dollar amount recommended by the governor, but that was lower than his staff economist predictions and requests from legislative Democrats.

“it’s pretty clear that we did set that bar too low,” said Sen. Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello.

Otter, Cameron and Hill all said that the lower revenue target was needed given the economic uncertainty and the difficulty of putting in spending holdbacks if the $85 million surplus ended up as a $85 million deficit.

“Lawmakers were very conservative in the projection that they did, realizing the very adverse consequences of estimating it too high,” Hill said.

“We had to make a decision based on the information at the time,” Cameron said.  “Based on that, I think we set the revenue projection just right.”

Rusche said that low target may have led to more cuts than were necessary.  “What’s done is done, but I think that it may have caused unnecessary harm in the budgeting process,” he said.

STATE BUDGET ENDS FISCAL YEAR WELL AHEAD OF EXPECTATIONS; GOVERNOR URGES CAUTION

(BOISE) – Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter announced today that the State ended fiscal year 2011 on June 30 with significantly more General Fund tax revenue than expected, but not enough to warrant big changes in the cautious, conservative approach to budgeting that yielded such a positive result.

The State received $2.44 billion from all forms of tax receipts – sales, income and corporate – in the past 12 months. That was $85.3 million more than the most recent Division of Financial Management projection in January, and 7.95 percent ahead of total tax receipts in fiscal 2010.

“I’m grateful for the revenue growth. But I still think that we’re a long way from out of the woods,” Governor Otter said. “You need to remember that this is about half a billion dollars less than we had in my first year as Governor. So we’re going to keep working hard to grow our economy, and along with it our revenues.”

Under Senate Bill 1207 passed by the 2011 Idaho Legislature, most of the unexpected additional revenue will be distributed to public schools and community colleges to meet the federal “maintenance of effort” requirements that the State agreed to under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Fed Jobs Act, which allocated federal funding to state education programs.

Public schools will receive a little over $59.9 million, distributed to local school districts through the Idaho Department of Education. The State Board of Education has determined that – based on enrollment growth – the College of Western Idaho will receive about $5 million, North Idaho College almost $1.8 million, and the College of Southern Idaho almost $668,000, for a total of about $7.5 million to community colleges.

All $59.9 million in additional public school funding can be used at the discretion of local trustees. However, Governor Otter urged them to be prudent with the one-time funds, to save as much as they can for future needs, and not to obligate the money to continuing expenses.

Senator Dean Cameron of Rupert and Representative Maxine Bell of Jerome – co-chairs of the Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC), echoed the call for continued caution despite the one-time payment that was a key part of the budget plan agreed upon by legislators and the Governor.

“Today’s positive news is greatly needed and appreciated for Idaho’s school districts and community colleges. I am grateful to the JFAC committee, legislative budget office, the Legislature and the Governor for agreeing to this approach,” Cameron said.

“None of us wanted to see further reductions in education, but the instability of the economic numbers forced us into a cautious approach,” Bell said. “With this approach, JFAC and the Legislature shared with the Governor the desire that any additional available funds would go first to education, and today’s news delivers on that commitment.”

Besides one-time money for education, Governor Otter determined that the unanticipated revenue will enable the next phased increase to the grocery tax credit for those who file State income tax returns. That will provide about $15 million in income tax relief for Idaho taxpayers.

“That’s one of the promises we made long ago, and we’ve desperately tried to keep it,” the Governor said.

Governor Otter also said he would be contacting former Governor Cecil Andrus about a friendly wager they made when fiscal year 2011 started in mid-2010. Governor Andrus bet State revenue would exceed the official projection from Governor Otter’s budget office.

“I made a silly bet with Andrus. I was hoping that he was right, and then I did everything I could do to make sure he was right,” Governor Otter said. “It’s a payment that I’m very happy to make.”

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna released the following statement on the $59.9 million in surplus funds going to public schools:

“This is a great day for Idaho schools … I thank the Legislature and Governor Otter for their fiscally responsible approach to budgeting and continued commitment that Idaho public schools will receive the first dollars available. Now, we are able to distribute $60 million in additional funds to our schools, which will more than cover the $47 million shortfall school districts were going to face in the upcoming year.”

“I certainly didn’t see anything that I would consider to be inappropriate,” Cameron said about bonuses paid out to workers at the Legislative Services Office (LSO).  All LSO employees received a bonus of more than $1,200 this year, for a total more than $90,000.  Those bonuses were within LSO’s budget for the fiscal year.

Agency head Jeff Youtz said the payments came after several years of stalled wages and were recognition and compensation for workers doing less with more as the agency reduced its overall staff.

“That savings was what generated enough funds for them to give these one-time salary adjustments, in essence replacing the money that was lost because they were furloughed,” said Cameron, one of the co-chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC), which sets the state budget every year.

JFAC members reviewed the payments to LSO staff at a meeting earlier this month.  Cameron said there were questions about the payments and that it was a perception issue, since the so-called bonuses come as other agencies face cuts and economic growth is slow.

While the payments to LSO workers weren’t as big an issue, Cameron said he was more worried by salary increases given to other state workers.  “In my mind, the permanent increases are more concerning because they won’t necessarily have the money next year in salary savings to maintain those,” Cameron said.

Cameron mentioned the Division of Financial Management (DFM), the office that helps Gov. Butch Otter put together a budget plan every year.  Six DFM budget analysts received salary increases this year, though budget chief Wayne Hammon said those bumps in pay brought those workers in line with their co-workers.

“It’s a fairness issue: I can’t have two people sitting right next to each other doing exactly the same job, getting exactly the same performance review, but getting different salaries,” Hammon said.

Hammon said the salary increases in his office are sustainable amid tight state budgets.  “Every one of [LSO’s] staff members got bonuses—a couple of DFM staffers got raises that total less than $8,000 a year,” Hammon said adding that raises won’t lead to an overall increased budget for DFM.  He also said that DFM, which has fewer employees and tax dollars funding it than LSO, trimmed its budget by 36 percent in the last few years, which is more than LSO.  “We have led by example.”

LSO paid out the most to its workers in a report of one-time payments released by the state controller’s office earlier this month.  Second on the list was the state court system, which paid 40 court reporters slightly less than $1,000 each.

Court administrator Patti Tobias said those payments to court reporters, who keep records of what happens in courts, aren’t bonuses, but a necessary payment.  Reporters’ payroll period and pay days were pushed back by two weeks due to an administrative decision by the court, which would’ve delay their pay for work this year into 2012.

“The court reporters would have experienced a negative financial impact,” Tobias said.  “The court did not want them to suffer in 2011.”  Court reporters will get another one-time payment later this year.

Other agencies that gave workers bonuses or one-time payments include the Department of Finance, State Appellate Public Defender, and Industrial Commission.

Tax revenues are currently $66 million over the state budget’s expectations with one important month of taxes yet to be collected. If that amount holds, public schools would get $50.7 million and community colleges would get $5.5 million. That money is required to go to schools because Idaho accepted hundreds of millions from the federal government for schools in the 2009 stimulus plan, as well as additional millions for educators’ salaries last year.

That money is supposed to be for the current school year, though the money won’t be paid out until at least July. Once local districts get that money, they’re free to spend or save the money as they choose, though some districts have already accounted for that money in contracts with teachers.

“They can do whatever they need to do,” said Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, though he added that he’s encouraged districts to be cautious, because future years may hold more funding cuts for education.

Cameron is one of the leaders of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC), which met Wednesday to discuss issues in education funding. Cameron and his co-leader, Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, both cautioned that districts shouldn’t be counting on additional money from the state.

“You know what? June isn’t here yet,” Bell said. June is the fourth-largest month for tax revenues. Cameron said Idaho’s sales tax and personal income tax collections have been slacking behind otherwise good tax collection numbers.

If the money holds, it would offset the $42 million spending cut JFAC approved for public schools for the next school year.

The money would give each classroom in the state approximately $24,000 in discretionary funds, which legislative budget officials said is close to an all-time high. However, Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, said that money now has to cover programs including textbooks and talented and gifted programs that previously had a separate line in the state budget.

“There’s a long list of things that we threw into discretionary,” LeFavour said.

Lawmakers also received an update on the $51 million in federal funds Idaho received last year for educators’ salaries. So far $13.7 million of that money has been spent, which could grow to $15 million by the end of the month, which also marks the end of Idaho’s fiscal year. That money must be spent by the end of September 2013.

Read IdahoReporter.com‘s previous story on districts’ decisions on spending that federal money here.

“I think the employees we have left that are doing more with less deserve that kind of recognition and compensation,” said LSO Director Jeff Youtz. He said that the bonuses are within his agency’s budget, and come after three years of no pay increases and a loss of six staff members..

“Because of these staff reductions and retirements, I had the money and I felt that my employees deserved them,” Youtz said. “There is no salary freeze on. The Legislature and the executive branch have been supportive of giving flexibility to agency directors to reward good people and balance their budgets.”

Wayne Hammon, Gov. Butch Otter’s budget chief and the leader of the Division of Financial Management (DFM), has urged state agencies to only give out bonuses to exceptional workers. “DFM has worked with all of them to minimize the bonuses and salaries, just because we’re trying to be fair across all the state agencies,” Hammon said. “We have not allowed agencies to give bonuses to every single employee.”

DFM, which is part of the governor’s executive branch, oversees budgets for most state agencies, but not for LSO, which is part of the legislative branch.

One lawmaker who helps write state budget said he’d review the LSO bonuses. “I think every agency is grappling with how to keep their good employees,” said Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert. Cameron is one of the leaders of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, which is meeting next week and could look at the bonuses.

All told, 185 state workers have gotten bonuses this year for a total of $227,003. The middle point for those bonuses was $1,000, which is what 15 employees in the State Appellate Public Defender’s Office were paid, though bonuses ranged from $110 for University of Idaho graduate assistants to $5,000 for analysts in the Department of Finance. In the judicial branch, 40 court reporters received bonuses of slightly less than $1,000.

By comparison, in all of 2010, 86 state workers received $99,267. Almost half that amount — $49083.22 — went to Bob Maynard, the chief investor for the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI), who earns performance bonuses depending on how well the state retirement fund performs.

More than 380 state workers have also gotten pay raises during the current year, with the middle point for increases $1 an hour. The biggest increase went to Boise State University football coach Chris Petersen, the highest paid state employee. His hourly salary rose $62.72 an hour to $502.93. He signed a new contract extension last year.

Many of the wage increases and bonuses went to employees in agencies that generate revenue, including the State Insurance Fund, the State Liquor Division, the Department of Finance, and public universities and colleges.

Alex Neiwirth, a field organizer for the Idaho Association of Government Employees, said more than 95 percent of state workers aren’t getting any extra money this year. “Our main concern with it is equity and that these aren’t equitable at all,” he said.

“What should be happening is all state employees’ wages need to be keeping up with inflation instead of losing ground,” Neiwirth said.

Each of the past two years, the Idaho Division of Human Resources, which Hammon formerly ran, has issued a report saying the state should bring its workforce more in line with private businesses by raising wages and lowering benefits. Due to the tight state’s budget, lawmakers haven’t made any major structural changes to workers’ pay and benefits, though smaller spending plans have led some agencies to reduce staff and force remaining staff to take unpaid furlough days.

“We’ve tried to encourage districts that have talked to us to not count on it and budget it,” said Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert.

The added money for schools is part of a law passed during the legislative session to meet the requirements of the 2009 federal stimulus package that gave Idaho more than $100 million for public schools. State schools chief Tom Luna said last month that schools could be looking at an extra $50 million, but with the May tax report below expectations, that amount is less likely.

Cameron said school districts would need to treat the money as a one-time windfall, not part of their ongoing yearly budgets. He said they might want to hang onto it in case there are any more spending cuts from the state. Those cuts include the drop in salary-based apportionment for teachers and staff scheduled to start in the next school year, as part of the education reforms backed by Luna but opposed by Cameron.

Luna’s spokeswoman Melissa McGrath said the Department of Education will wait to see how much money schools would receive before making a recommendation to local districts.  Some districts, including those in Coeur d’Alene and New Plymouth, have already decided how any extra money they receive from the state will be spent, including going toward staff salaries or reducing furloughs.

Cameron and Gov. Butch Otter’s budget chief Wayne Hammon said it’s too early to tell whether the current $66 million budget surplus will grow, shrink or hold through June, which is one of the larger tax collection months in the state.

“It would be unwise to draw any conclusions about where the State will finish the fiscal year before we see the results from the current month,” Hammon said in an e-mail to lawmakers. Idaho’s fiscal year ends on June 30.

The biggest shortfall in May tax collections was in the personal income tax. Hammon said that was due to the state paying out more refunds for 2010 taxes than expected. Corporate income tax collections were above predictions, while sales tax revenues were slightly less than expected.

“We’re still in this cycle of mixed messages on the economy,” Cameron said about the May tax numbers. He also expressed concern when Idaho collected $14 million more than expected in April. “It’s disappointing, but it’s along the same lines as we thought. It’s part of the reason that we’ve been preaching caution.”

The state has collected tax revenues below expectations only one other month during the current year, in December. Lawmakers set their budget with an expectation of 4.2 percent growth in tax collections, and by extension in most economic activity, for the current fiscal year, and 3 percent growth for the next 12 months.

Read more about May tax collections at Idaho Outlook, published monthly by the Division of Financial Management.

Republicans who worked on the state budget say the revenue numbers are good news. “That’s last year’s taxes, and last year was not a good year, so I’m pleased with that,” said Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, one of the leaders of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC), which sets the budget.

The extra money for schools comes as part of legislation approved by lawmakers this year and required by the 2009 federal stimulus package. Idaho took more than $100 million in stimulus dollars, promising to hold off on large reductions to schools.

For every $5 million in tax revenues beyond the current budget target, $3.1 million will go to public schools, according to the legislation. That money would be distributed as discretionary funds sent to local districts. If the current surplus holds, districts would get approximately $46 million. That could offset the $47 million reduction to schools approved by lawmakers earlier this year.

“I think we can all agree this is a positive sign for our economy and good news for our schools today and in the future,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said on his blog.

Districts likely won’t receive that extra funding until July, once the state figures out how much it received in tax revenues for the budget year.

The rest of the revenue surplus would stay in the state general fund. Bell said, depending on what happens the next several months, it could be spent on some state agencies, including state prisons and public health districts.

“Corrections is right on the edge,” Bell said, adding that an increase in the state’s prison population would require more funds. She said health districts have a tight budget. “It’s not a big budget but a little bit makes a lot of difference.”April is Idaho’s biggest month for tax revenues, as most individuals and businesses file their income taxes. The state collected $377 million in income, sales and other taxes last month. Only one other month has collected two-thirds that amount.

Individual income taxes were more than $7 million below predictions, but corporate income taxes were $11.6 million more than expected. A report from the Division of Financial Management (DFM) said income tax witholdings on individuals’ paychecks was better than anticipated. “This strength suggests employment growth is more robust than was previously thought,” according to the monthly report, written by state economist Derek Santos.

Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, who leads JFAC with Bell, said on Twitter that he wished the sales tax and individual income tax revenues had been better, calling them a better reflection of the state economy.

“Both March and April still show weakness in sales tax collection, which is a reflection of weakness in the current economy,” Cameron said. “We still have to be cautious.” He said topping projections is good, but there are other economic mixed messages, including Idaho’s persistent high unemployment rate.

DFM administrator Wayne Hammon called the new revenue numbers good news, but said the state budget year isn’t over. “It confirms the wisdom of Governor Otter’s conservative approach to budgeting in collaboration with legislative Republicans,” Hammon said in an e-mail to reporters “If these strong returns continue through the end of the fiscal year, we should have some extra money for education.”

One of the Democrats on JFAC, Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, said lawmakers set a budget revenue target for the current and next year that was irresponsibly low and influenced by politics.

“All these jobs that we eliminate do depress the economy,” she said. “We have a responsibility as policymakers. There are a lot of lives in our hands. When we cut services and eliminate jobs, people face very dire impacts.” She said cuts to Medicaid and mental health programs could have a powerful impact on Idaho families.

Bell said lawmakers were right to set a more fiscally conservative budget, since tax collections have fallen short of budget numbers for several years. “Lawmakers have had about three or four years of the most difficult budget setting that we’ve ever had,” she said. “Had we not been conservative, we’d have ended up in August with the governor making another holdback.”

While April is the biggest tax month, June is in the top three, so revenue totals could change. Tax revenues have only dipped below expectations once during the current budget year, in December.

“Redistricting is the most pure form of political bloodsport,” said Ross Borden with the city of Boise, who worked for the Legislature during the last redistricting in 2001.

The redistricting commission will start work in June, and have 90 days to draw up a new map of legislative districts. Secretary of State Ben Ysrusa said that plan will end up in court.

“I will make a bold prediction: I will be sued,” Ysursa said. The secretary of state would be the defendant in any suit over the new district boundaries. Ysursa said he’d like to have the new district map in place by the early fall, but he’s not naïve about lawsuits from someone critical of a redistricting plan.

Republicans and Democrats will each get three spots on the commission, with the leaders of the state parties and the partisan leaders in the Idaho House and Senate each picking a member. Recently released census data will be the basis for the commission’s decisions.

“Anybody that gets on that commission is going to need to have a bullet-proof vest, because some people are not going to be happy with redistricting,” said Evan Frasure, a former Republican state lawmaker from Pocatello who has been involved in Idaho’s redistricting since 1980.

Frasure started drawing up potential new legislative districts the same day census data was released. He said where Idaho’s population grew, the Treasure Valley in southwest Idaho should gain seats, while north Idaho and south central Idaho could lose seats. “If Ada County and Canyon County pick up two districts, those have got to come from somewhere,” he said.

Gary Moncrief, a political science professor at Boise State University, who’s hosting a conference on redistricting at the Capitol, generally agreed with Frasure’s predictions about the gains in southwest Idaho. He said Boise, the largest city in the state and a traditional Democratic stronghold, hasn’t gained as much as suburban areas, which could benefit Republicans.

The loss of seats in some regions could have an impact on the make up of the Legislature. Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, said he’d consider stepping down from the Legislature after next year if he’s bunched in the same district with Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo. Both men chair committees and have served in the Senate for two decades.

Cameron said if their districts are combined, the two would have to talk about whether they’d run against each other in a primary. He said perhaps lawmakers would be better off managing redistricting, since they know their communities best. In the mid-1990s, voters approved changing the Idaho Constitution, letting the commission, not lawmakers, redraw district lines.

Some lawmakers could see benefits from redistricting. Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, serves one of the largest districts geographically, spanning most of north central Idaho. He said the redrawn maps could lead to a smaller district, if it shifts Idaho County into a northern district and adds a smaller, more populated southern town. He said that change could put an end to needing to drive several hours one way to get to meetings with constituents.

House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, said redistricting can be like a rubber band pulling the district lines in different directions. Rusche, who gets to pick one of the six commissioners, said both Republicans and Democrats will try to advance their own political goals, with both parties like;y to pick their commissioners as a team of three.

Republicans say they’re adopting that strategy. Steve Cory, who leads a state GOP task force on redistricting, said party leaders are winnowing down names. He said the party’s goal is to keep the influence of the state’s population as high as possible while following the state and federal constitutions.

Cory said the Republican commissioners will likely have a plan for district maps in place before the June meetings, and that it could be tough to budge them. “It’s going to be difficult for someone to step off that,” he told IdahoReporter.com. Four members of the commission must approve the redistricting plan, which means there must be some bipartisan cooperation.

Members of the public will be able to create their own redistricting plan to send to the commission. The Legislature is getting ready to launch an Idaho-specific Maptitude program that anyone can use on the Internet. A decade ago, people had to go to one of 10 libraries across the state to create a redistricting map.

Keith Bybee, who’s working on the redistricting commission for the Legislature, said the new software, used by the public and the commission, and a consultant would cost approximately $200,000, which is close to $50,000 less than the cost of computers, software, and consultants in 2001.

The Maptitude software should become public in Idaho in early May, though other states are already using the software. Moncrief said he expects the names of the commissioners to become public in the next two weeks, though Cory said he doesn’t think that will happen until just before the commission starts to meet in June.

For 10 years, Cameron and Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, have led the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC), which puts together the budget.

Looking back, Cameron said that before the start of the 2011 session, he knew going in it would be a difficult budget session, though it was a different set of issues than he thought.

Lawmakers on JFAC ended up balancing the budget largely by following the budget from Gov. Butch Otter and adding additional spending reductions as needed to match a smaller budget than originally laid out by the governor. Instead of a budget battle taking center stage, the education reform plan backed by state schools superintendent Tom Luna became the focal point during much of the legislative session.

Cameron emerged as one of the most prominent Republican opponents of Luna’s reforms.

Cameron was a vocal critic of the reform plan on the Senate floor. He said some senators who didn’t vote with him said they’d support further changes next year, but now the onus is on lawmakers, not the superintendent, to make those fixes. Any changes next year could be swayed by next year’s elections, whether Idaho tax revenues improve and deliver more money to schools.

“If this reform plays out in a way that districts have to lay off teachers, then I think there will be a real adverse affect,” he said. “My read of the public is that they won’t support that.”

Cameron said his vote against the reform package speaks for itself. He does support the referendum to repeal the laws, but he hasn’t been asked to sign it.

Cameron said he wouldn’t be out front encouraging people to sign the referendum, though he respects voters’ rights to repeal state laws. He said he wouldn’t back calls to remove Luna from office. “I’m not sure I could go so far as supporting the recall efforts,” he said.

One of his concerns is that the reforms give the superintendent too much power in spending money in the public schools budget.

He’s also said the pay for performance bonuses for teachers and administrators, which currently aren’t funded in the next budget, may not have the desired impact, since other parts of the reform laws reduce state funding for educators’ salaries. Cameron said that’s a bad way to run a business, and could lead people to look for teaching jobs in other states.

Lawmakers were able to solve the budget concerns, which at one time had a deficit of more than $100 million, by using one-time funds and making reductions to Medicaid and other state agencies. Cameron said he was much more supportive of the process lawmakers took to reduce Medicaid than what transpired with education.

“I would’ve bet you the biggest steak in town that they wouldn’t have gotten a $35 million reduction in Medicaid,” Cameron said. “I wish in some ways the education reform had taken a similar approach. You may have come out with a different outcome and a more consensus, less divisive package.”

Cameron also said he’s not concerned by the use of sweeping funds from some state agencies, as was recommended by the governor. “We left some one-time funds on the table,” Cameron said. “In the event that the economy doesn’t improve and we need to again replace one-time money with one time money, we’ve got other sources to go back to.”

The budget approved by lawmakers goes into effect in July, and Cameron said it’s too early to tell what the impact of the budget will be. He said he feared some agencies’ budgets may have been cut too much.

“Public health districts are critically important and they took a full 5 percent reduction this year,” Cameron said. “We’ve cut higher ed repeatedly. It tends not to show up as much because of all the other sources of revenue, which by the way isn’t student fees … There’s a reasonable size that comes from student fees but by and large the biggest chunk of funding that higher education receives is from federal funds or grants.”

Cameron called money for education an economic engine and said lawmakers will need to find funding for it in the future.

One lasting impact of the completed legislative session could be an increase in public participation. Cameron said there’s been a shift to more public involvement, perhaps triggered by the hearings by JFAC.

“I’m hopeful that this is the new norm, that public participation is the new way,” he said. Cameron added that the remodeled state Capitol proved its value as committee rooms held large hearings.