Idaho’s congressional and state-level leaders, who lobbied for the Air Force to pick Idaho, said the decision is disappointing, but that it doesn’t rule out Idaho’s chances for future F-35 missions.

“We’re disappointed, but by no means are we defeated,” Gov. Butch Otter said in a news release.  “It’s a long process for deploying an aircraft that will be in use for decades to come, and this is just round one.  We’ll have more opportunities to get squadrons of F-35s based here in Idaho, with the careers and economic opportunity they will bring with them.”

The Air Force chose bases in Utah and Vermont as preferred alternatives for the operations portion of the F-35 mission, and a base in Arizona for the training portion.

“The Air Force determined that housing three squadrons of F-35s at Mountain Home or Gowen Field would have required additional construction costs,” Idaho’s congressional delegation said in a joint statement.  “That determination is disappointing because all of the sites chosen will require new construction to accommodate three squadrons.  “Other benefits should have factored into the decision besides initial cost savings.  We will be taking a close look at the data used to reach this decision to ensure it was a transparent and apolitical process.”

“This is not a final basing decision,” Kathleen Ferguson, the deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, said in a press release issued by the Air Force. “The preferred alternatives with other reasonable alternatives will continue to be evaluated.”  A final decision has been expected for next year.

Gowen Field was picked by the Air Force as one of two candidates to be the operations base for the C-27J aircraft, a twin turboprop transport plane designed for use in areas with shorter airstrips for takeoff and landing.

Idaho lawmakers earlier this year endorsed Idaho’s bid for the F-35 program.  Otter has said that landing the mission at both Mountain Home Air Force Base and Gowen Field could net 3,000 new jobs in Idaho.  Some opponents to the F-35 program have cited complaints about noise near Boise.

Marsano said the Idaho Guard is trying to get three F-35 training squadrons based at Gowen Field, and three operational squadrons could be stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base.  The Navy and Marine Corps would have their own training bases for the F-35 variants specifically designed for those services; the F-35B, with its vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability for the Marines; and the aircraft carrier-capable F-35C for the Navy.

Gowen Field is in competition to host the Air Force's F-35 training school

One advantage to having the Air Force’s training program in such close proximity to the three operational squadrons is that it wouldn’t be much of a hardship on pilots’ families after the training is completed. “The pilot could come to Gowen Field for their one-year training session, then go right down the road to Mountain Home, where they’re stationed in an operational squadron.  The longer the family’s in one place, the better.”

While the environmental studies are being conducted, Marsano is keeping busy answering questions from members of the community.  He says a lot of rumors are being spread online about the F-35.  One rumor is that the jet’s engines are louder than those of the F-15s and F-16s that routinely fly in and out of Gowen Field.  “It (the rumor) states as fact that the F-35 is three times louder than current generation fighters.  The Air Force Joint Strike Fighter office published a report, a scientific evaluation of the F-35 engines compared to current generation fighters, and determined the noise was very similar.”

Marsano welcomed anyone with questions or concerns to contact him personally at (208) 422-5268.

In all, about 1,700 of the Joint-Strike Fighters are expected to be added to the Air Force’s inventory during the years it is in production.  The F-35 will also be used in eight foreign air forces, Marsano said.

The Idaho Constitution limits how much local government agencies can go into debt and requires a vote by citizens for a bond or debt that exceeds its income. The proposed exceptions for hospitals, airports, and power systems come after an Idaho Supreme Court case in 2006 ruled that Boise Airport needed to hold a public vote before offering bonds for a parking garage.

Proponents of changing the constitution say permitting public entities to go into debt would allow them to stay competitive in the marketplace and wouldn’t require taxpayers to foot the bill. The amendments say that local property taxes couldn’t be used to pay off the bonds.

“Airports throughout the state of Idaho are in support of (the amendment),” said Boise Airport director Richard McConnell. “No local tax dollars are used to support the airport.” He said the airport gets its revenue from federal grants as well as fees on airlines, car rentals, and airport tenants, including UPS and FedEx. He added that the ability to issue bonds could help the airport in its bid to get the F-35 fighter jet program. “The airport’s ability to access financial markets in a timely manner is a critical tool in the success of this campaign,” he said.

Kootenai Medical Center CEO Joe Morris also said that Idaho’s 20 public hospitals support the effort. “This change would restore the manner in which hospitals operated in until 2006,” he said. Morris said public hospitals need the same financial flexibility as private hospitals, and that if the amendment fails, more public hospitals would switch to being run by larger companies. “The public hospitals of the state are watching this.” He said he advocated for a similar amendment that was approved 14 years ago. “It’s like déjà vu all over again,” he said. Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, said the section of the state constitution related to indebtedness, Article 8, has been amended eight or nine times since the constitution was written more than 100 years ago.

“The private hospitals are in full support of this measure,” said Idaho Hospital Association president Steven Millard. “They view it as important for the health system of the state of Idaho.”

“I don’t know of an issue I can recall that has been vetted more, wordsmithed more, or had more lawyers involved,” said Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls. “It has been quite an interesting experience.”

Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, opposed sending the amendments for airports and power companies to the Senate floor for a vote. He said he might support the measures on the floor, but was worried about the ability of airports and power companies to lease property included in the amendments. He said it could harken back to the construction of the Ada County Courthouse, which used an urban renewal agency and lease to finance a new building.

If the Senate approves the three constitutional amendments, Idaho voters would see three separate questions on their ballot. “What this requires is three separate votes by the people,” said Sen. Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston. “We would’ve preferred to have had as simple an option as possible, but there’s nothing simple about this issue.” The cost to print the proposed constitutional amendments in local newspapers and voter pamphlets could cost up to $120,000, though Stegner said the state could get a bulk discount by printing several amendments.

Read IdahoReporter.com‘s coverage of the amendment permitting airports to go into debt here. The text of the hospital amendment is available here, the airport amendment here, and the municipal electric system amendment here.

“This legislation will do more harm than good for Idaho,” said AARP Idaho State Director Jim Wordelman. “This legislation does nothing to address the health care crisis facing hundreds of thousands of Idahoans and everything to make that crisis worse.” An AARP news release says the association will notify its 180,000 members across Idaho of their senator’s vote on the Health Freedom Act, which passed 24-10.  The release also said the legislation could have unintended consequences, including potentially costing the state $1.6 billion in annual federal fund for Medicaid and children’s health care and hurting the state’s chances of getting the F-35 fighter jet program.

Read AARP’s full news release below.

STATE SENATE FAILS IDAHOANS STRUGGLING WITH HIGH HEALTH CARE COSTS

Passage of Idaho Health Freedom Act Creates More Problems and No Solutions to Worsening State Health Care Crisis

BOISE, Idaho – Idahoans buckling under soaring health care costs didn’t get any help from the Idaho State Senate tonight.  In fact, with the passage of the Idaho Health Freedom Act (House Bill 391), they may have just made matters worse.

AARP has made tonight’s vote part of its “accountability vote” efforts: The Association will track and report the roll call and inform all its 180,000 Idaho members how their Senator voted.

While across the state Idaho residents are being hit with soaring insurance premiums, leaving over 100,000 people to spend more than 25% of the income on health care, tonight they received another roadblock to relief.   The legislation not only could spell disaster for Idaho’s current health care system, it could also cost the state federal matching money that allows Idaho to provide needed health care for the state’s children and families.

“This legislation will do more harm than good for Idaho, is full of unintended consequences and brings home the divisiveness and fighting that have kept Idahoans from the health care solutions they need,” said Jim Wordelman, State Director for AARP in Idaho.  “This legislation does nothing to address the health care crisis facing hundreds of thousands of Idahoans and everything to make that crisis worse.”

Idahoans are currently seeing their health insurance premium increases soar into double digits – these premiums are expected to double in the next few years.  In Idaho, over 220,000 people are uninsured, that number is expected to soar as more of the state’s unemployed lose health care benefits.  213,000 older Idahoans are stuck in the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” where they are pay 100% of the cost of the prescription drugs, forcing many to skip taking their needed medications.

“AARP commends the Idaho Senators who did what was right and took a stand against this disastrous bill,” added Wordelman.  “Those who voted in favor of this bill voted to make Idaho’s health care problems worse for children, families and the elderly.”

The legislation could have severe and unintended consequences and is strongly opposed by AARP because it:

• Does nothing to address the real health care problems Idahoans face, high prescription drug and insurance prices and the high cost of health care.
• Contradicts existing state policy that requires all full-time students at state colleges and universities to carry health insurance — without it they can’t enroll.
• Ties the hands of Idaho legislators with a permanent state law taking aim at a non-existent federal one, which could prevent action on needed state health care issues.
• Will engage Idaho in costly litigation with little chance for success.
• Could cost the state over $1.6 billion in federal matching funds for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), compromising the coverage for 260,000 Idahoans and losing thousands of state health care jobs.
• Destabilizes Idaho’s carefully constructed regulations for the insurance industry.
• May prevent state regulators from addressing health insurance and health plan issues – leaving premiums, deductibles and co-pays subject to even greater increases.
• Puts at risk Idaho’s bid for the F-35 project — while telling the federal government to stay out of the state with one hand, with the other we’re urging them to come and spend billions of dollars in Idaho and bring thousands of jobs.

According to the proposal’s sponsor, Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, using an interpretation of the law from a 2006 Idaho Supreme Court case, public entities like airports are required, by the Idaho Constitution, to get a two-thirds approval from local voters before entering into long-term debt obligations.  Wood said that airports would never be allowed to use taxpayer dollars to pay off debt.   The money to pay any debts would come from normal airport sources of revenues, such as tenant fees assessed to those businesses and operations which rent airport space.

At the committee hearing, Richard McConnell, director for the Boise Airport, said that more than 70 percent of people who use the airport are not residents of Boise, so the airport does not receive any tax dollars from those individuals.  He said that the fees are the way the airport extracts funding from those travelers and could help to pay off debt.  He also assured lawmakers of the financial stability of the airport.

“There has never been a time when the airport has operated at a loss,” said McConnell at the hearing.

The Boise Airport lost out on the chance base a major repair facility on its property because of its inability to incur debt to build the necessary buildings, said McConnell. He said that a regional carrier had approached the airport with the opportunity, but instead chose the airport in Reno, Nev., because the Boise Airport could not build an additional hangar the airline wanted.

Debt could also be vital Idaho landing the F-35 joint-strike fighter jets at Gowen Field, which shares the same land as the Boise Airport, said McConnell.  He added that the airport would need to invest in new property or buildings should the planes eventually be based in Boise.

Before the vote on the House floor Wednesday, Wood said the restrictions placed on airports are too cumbersome and restrict the ability of airports to effectively plan for their future.  He added that airports, as “economic engine” for the communities they serve, need the flexibility to adapt rapidly to a ever-changing business and economic climate.

Because it is a constitutional amendment, the measure requires a two-thirds vote by both Houses of the Legislature, the signature of the governor, and another two-thirds approval by voters in the general election in 2010.  The cost of the bill, which is estimated at $35,000-$40,000, is associated the process of putting the proposal on the ballot

The proposal now heads to the Senate.

“This is a unique opportunity to let our wishes be known to the Congress and the secretary of the Air Force,” said Senate President Pro Tem Robert Geddes, R-Soda Springs. He said Idaho makes sense for the F-35 program. “It’s been indicated to me that much of the terrain that we use to train fighter pilots over Idaho, if you take a picture from the air and compare that to a picture from the air taken of Afghanistan, it’s very difficult to tell the difference. Now, I don’t know if I’m proud to look like Afghanistan … but I think that that demonstrates a clear vision of what we have to offer the Air Force.”

Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, a former flight instructor in the Navy, agreed with Geddes that Idaho makes sense for the F-35s. “The terrain and weather here offer a unique opportunity,” he said. “It means new buildings, investments, personnel, and aircraft beyond the current mission. This could have a very significant impact on our state, putting people back to work, as well as providing the defense and training of our military.”

Read IdahoReporter.com’s past coverage of the F-35 jets.

Wednesday morning, the Senate State Affairs Committee voted unanimously to approve House Joint Memorial 10, which passed the House unanimously on Feb. 9.  Rep. JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, presented the measure to the committee, which urges Congress and the Air Force to base the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter at Mountain Home Air Force Base, and the F-35 training school at Gowen Field.

The presentation was accompanied by a video produced by the Idaho National Guard’s video production department, which spelled out the advantages of basing the new fighter in the Gem State.  Some of the advantages cited include climate, a large training airspace with little commercial air traffic, existing military facilities, and the support of the military by Idaho’s people and governments.  The video will be presented to decision makers in Congress and the Air Force later.

(Note: The House approved the measure earlier in the legislative session; read that story here.)

Crapo also spoke about his efforts to bring the F-35 fighter jet program to Idaho.

During his speech to lawmakers, Crapo said he was concerned with the budget process in Congress. “Frankly, I don’t see an appetite in Congress to control spending,” he said, adding that some are looking to raise taxes. Crapo also said he’s happy with how Idaho lawmakers are dealing with their own shrinking budget revenues. “I know that you are facing really tough fiscal decisions yourself,” he told state senators and representatives. “The toughest decisions that you need to make are on the spending side not the taxing side. This is not the time to raise taxes … We are not seeing the same kind of restraint in the federal government.”

Crapo also said that while the federal cap and trade legislation regulating some gas emissions may be stalled, there is a brighter future for new renewable energy sources and energy conservation the U.S. “These kinds of approaches to an energy policy are starting to develop broad-based support,” he said. Crapo said developing new sources of energy would help put more people back to work.

The two bases are on a short list of bases around the country under consideration by the Air Force for the new programs, which could bring as many as $1 billion and 3,000 jobs to the economy of Idaho.   The bases are not competing with one another for the programs.  MHAFB is under consideration for a program that will bring active forces to the base, while Gowen would be a training operation only.

Rep. Pete Nielson, R-Mountain Home, said the community completely supports the base and has made it easy for the base to avoid encroachment issues through city statutes.  Nielson, who said he has property on the west boundary of MHAFB, said he enjoys the aircraft in the area and said the base is a “tremendous asset to Idaho, Elmore County, and everyone involved.”

Rep. JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, in whose committee the memorial was originally considered, passed out a petition to lawmakers following the vote to allow them an additional way to voice support.

The state is making a large push to bring the jets to Idaho.  The Idaho Department of Commerce is holding a meeting with an Air Force investigative team Tuesday night, Feb. 9, to gauge the potential environmental impact of the program upon the Treasure Valley. Gov. Butch Otter got in on the act, penning an opinion in favor of the jets Monday. The department is also working with the governor in different endeavors to push for the program, including creating a website and Twitter feed for the movement.

Read IdahoReporter.com’s first story on the memorial here. The memorial now moves onto the Senate for further consideration.