Cheers and Boos: Idaho Politics Round-Up: April 14

Cheers to Speaker Lawrence Denney (R-9) for introducing a bill to tighten the security of our voter registration process. Said Speaker Denney:

“Right now, you can mail in a request to register, mail in your registration form, and at the same time mail in a request for an absentee ballot, which means that you can actually vote without ever having to stand before anyone to prove who you are.”

Idaho has voter registration laws that only ACORN and of course, the Idaho Democratic Party,  could love, so it’s no surprise that they’ve gone apoplectic on the Speaker’s proposal as an infringement on the right to vote. The problem with that idea is that Idaho has same-day voter registration and early voting. I tried to register to vote by mail, but for some reason the Ada County Courthose lost my information. I registered in person in February, 2004 to vote on the Auditorium District. It was a simple process.

For some, it’s not simple enough. I’m sorry, but when we get to the point that we compromise security of the ballot for simplicity we’ve gone too far. Ironically, the folks from the same party who allege that Speaker Denney is trying to suppress the vote are the same folks who believe school boards should be able to call elections whenever they’re of a mind to and pretend that elections where 1.19% of voters vote are legitimate.

Cheers to Rep. Brian Cronin (D-19) for being honest about the need for semi-closed caucuses:

“Sports coaches don’t allow reporters into their halftime meetings with their teams,” Cronin said Thursday. “When we’ve got one party playing chess and the other playing by Candyland rules, it seems disadvantageous.”

House Democratic Leader John Rusche of Lewiston acknowledged that some in his ranks want to revisit the issue. But he said Thursday that the Democrats will take the summer recess to discuss the issue and any changes wouldn’t be implemented until next year.

Cronin said he can live with that, but added that he feels strongly about the issue and has persuaded “quite a few” of his 18 colleagues that the issue should be revisited.

Cronin said he’s interested in changing the party’s practice to allow closing of the caucus in cases of strategy, akin to executive sessions that are allowed when governments consider sensitive matters like personnel or lawsuits.

Of course, Cronin’s right and the Democrats have been grandstanding for the past several years on this point. It’s not working and Cronin’s right to be annoyed, and the Democrats have every right to talk about strategy behind closed doors.

Of course, once you get past strategy matters, there’s really nothing of interest to cover other than Betsy Russell might get a few humorous anecdotes.

Boos: For Rep. Phyllis King (D-18). From Voices:

“Transparency in government is essential to keep the trust of the citizenry,” King said in a Statesman candidate questionnaire. “There is the perception that a government that operates in secrecy is more prone to corruption. Citizens have a right to information — it’s the foundation of democracy.”

King, of course was with the Statesman on Open Caucuses before the apparent unauthorized slamming of the door on Dan Popkey. King is hypocritical. After two terms, she’s an official full-fledged politician.

Boos to the Idaho Statesman. The Boise Guardian reports on the following note on the Idaho Statesman:

“Effective Monday, April 6, we will no longer be able to offer re-delivery of missed papers within the metro area…” How can you RE-deliver something that was NEVER DELIVERED?

What the folks at the ailing daily were trying to say was, “If we don’t deliver a paper that you have pre-paid to have delivered, don’t waste your time calling the circulation department because we don’t care.”

if the Idaho Statesman won’t stand by its delivery commitments, it makes no sense to subscribe unless you’re convalescent. If you really want to read the Statesman, buy it at a store or out of the box. Double Boos for the Statesman introducing their anti-Customer Service move with Orwellian New Speak.

Cheers to Rep. Marv Hagedorn (R-20). Hagedorn has an innovative proposal that’s making its way through the Idaho legislature.  It would pay for road funding by increasing the number of out of state companies that register plates for their commercial vehicles in Idaho:

Unlike personal vehicles, commercial trucks and tractor-trailers can be licensed and registered in any state, regardless of where a company is based. That, to Hagedorn, creates a marketing opportunity. He introduced a bill earlier this session that would encourage trucking firms to register their fleets here.

I’ve been working on this for a few years,” he said. “My objective is to find a resource the state has that would help relieve the tax burden on citizens, without competing with private businesses – and this is a great opportunity.”

Idaho already offers a permanent plate that doesn’t require yearly registration renewals. For a company like Wal-Mart, which has more than 50,000 tractor-trailers, eliminating paperwork and the need to match specific trailers with specific renewal stickers represents a substantial cost-savings, Hagedorn said.

Idaho law, however, currently requires out-of-state truckers to pay sales tax on the price of the trailer before they can buy the permanent plate. That makes it cost-prohibitive.

Hagedorn’s bill would remove the sales tax requirement. Moreover, it authorizes the creation of special “business logo” license plates – meaning Wal-Mart or UPS or any other company could design their own plates, complete with corporate logo and marketing slogan.

“Everyone is looking to save a buck,” Hagedorn said. “We can make this simple for corporations and help save them money just by changing state law. It costs $3 to make a license plate, and we’d sell them for $112. There are 5.6 million semi-trailers in the United States. That’s a $627 million market.”

Add in Canadian trucks, he said, and the market potential climbs to $1 billion.

“Imagine if we get just 10 percent of that,” Hagedorn said. “In the past, we’ve looked at taxpayers within our border (to generate state revenue). This could bring in revenue from outside the state. There are opportunities out there. We just need to find them.”

Hagedorn’s proposal is innovative, which is a key to good governing conservatism. We need more legislatures who think outside the box and find ways to reform state government. Legislators like Hagedorn and Stave Thayn, who do this are critical.

Boo to Kevin Richert…I’m booing him and I’ll explain why in a few days, just trust me on this one.

Cheers to Senate Nicole LeFavour (D-19): I’ve gone after LeFavour for her emo ways in this legislative session, the last few weeks, but she is truly a gifted writer and I have to give her props for this piece on the confusing process of Idaho State Senate debate. And I’ll take this opportunity to announce that I will not be running for the Idaho State Senate in 2010.

Boos to several Sun Valley leaders who, at a hearing of the Senate State Affairs Committee, showed all the decorum of Jerry Springer guests and proved that money can’t buy you class.

Finally, cheers to Betsy Russell. It’s fairly easy to criticize the media and the Idaho Statesman merits a lot of it, but our neighbors to the North have a jewel in Betsy Russell. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had an issue with Russell’s coverage. (I probably have because I’m an onery cus.)

Eye on Boise continues to be a jewel of the Idaho news blogosphere and is a valuable resource to me during the session. For providing a fair-minded comprehensive news source that Idahoans both sides of the aisle can trust, I send out sincere cheers to Betsy Russell.