{"id":2916,"date":"2011-12-27T12:30:35","date_gmt":"2011-12-27T19:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/?p=2916"},"modified":"2012-01-11T12:24:20","modified_gmt":"2012-01-11T19:24:20","slug":"sen-cameron-lawmakers-must-weigh-short-term-vs-long-term-economic-stimulators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2011\/12\/27\/sen-cameron-lawmakers-must-weigh-short-term-vs-long-term-economic-stimulators\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Cameron: Lawmakers Must Weigh Short-Term vs. Long-Term Economic Stimulators"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Idaho Legislature convenes January 9th.\u00a0 In advance of the session, we interviewed several legislative leaders and asked them about Idaho’s economy and what the state could be doing to boost growth and job creation.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Idaho Legislature \/ State of Idaho<\/p>

<\/p><\/div>\n

Sen. Dean Cameron<\/a> (R-Rupert) is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and co-chairman of the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee<\/a>.\u00a0 JFAC is the committee that shapes the legislature’s version of the state budget.\u00a0 He’s been a lawmaker since 1991.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>How will JFAC approach the budgeting process? Do you anticipate further budget cuts?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>We certainly are seeing some improvement in our revenue stream.\u00a0 And I would remind you, the state\u2019s revenue stream is really a lagging indicator of the state\u2019s economic conditions.\u00a0 That\u2019s always a little frustrating because sometimes the economy feels like its better but the revenue isn\u2019t coming into the state as fast.\u00a0 So the revenue has been lagging behind our economic conditions, but there is some slight improvement.\u00a0 We believe with current forecast, we\u2019re still yet to make a formal recommendation for the upcoming fiscal year. We believe it won\u2019t be as difficult.\u00a0 It still isn\u2019t great. We\u2019re still below 2008 revenues.\u00a0 We still have agencies that are significantly funded below the levels they were in 2008 and 2009.\u00a0 And we don\u2019t have any reserves left because we\u2019ve used all the reserves to mitigate the reductions over the last three years.\u00a0 So, we\u2019re in a little bit more of a precarious situation, but we don\u2019t anticipate revenue further declining.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>What is the challenge in putting together budget plans this session?<\/p>\n

[legislator leg_id=IDL000007 align=right]<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>The challenge has shifted.\u00a0 It still will be difficult because we still aren\u2019t meeting the needs of Idahoans and Idaho agencies as they provide services to the public.\u00a0 Unfortunately we didn\u2019t see a lot of change in the functions agencies are required to produce.\u00a0 Agencies are still required to provide all the same services they were going into this downturn.\u00a0 They just have had to try and figure out more efficient ways to do it, maybe not more efficient ways, they\u2019ve just had to deal with the reductions.\u00a0 In some ways it makes our job easier, because we won\u2019t be necessarily looking for further reductions.\u00a0 On the other hand, it will make our job difficult in a different way.\u00a0 We still won\u2019t have enough money to restore everybody back to where they were, and it\u2019s my understanding that\u2019s not what the governor is recommending anyhow.\u00a0 There will be a debate over who and what gets restored, what will be funded.\u00a0 There\u2019s still not enough money to cover the needs or the requests out there.\u00a0 And then there will be a philosophical debate between: how much money should go toward restoration for agencies, how much money should go toward reserves, and how much money should be used for economic development or tax relief or those types of approaches.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Are there particular agencies that have been hit harder? Where should money be prioritized?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>Sure.\u00a0 There are agencies over the last few years that have been hit very hard, not the least of which would be public health districts and higher education. They\u2019ve probably taken more than their share of the reductions.\u00a0 Those will have to be addressed.\u00a0 The agencies that have taken some of the least reductions are some of the most important, critical core issues the state has to fund.\u00a0 Our mission is to provide for the public education, health and safety of the public.\u00a0 Public education has had some reduction, but comparatively to higher ed, they\u2019ve been held more at bay.\u00a0 Albeit, they haven\u2019t had increases to deal with additional students nor has higher education.\u00a0 I think public ed is the highest priority and will receive more attention, as it always has.\u00a0 Public health, such as Medicaid<\/a>, a large debate is hugely important, but at the same time it\u2019s growing faster than we can sustain and certainly what our economy is growing at.\u00a0 So, that will continue to be a problem I\u2019m certain.\u00a0 Money will need to be applied there and unfortunately there is just not enough money.\u00a0So, you\u2019ll be robbing from other places in order to fund Medicaid appropriately, or you\u2019re going to underfund Medicaid to fund others.\u00a0 That\u2019s the rub.<\/p>\n

So, you\u2019ll be robbing from other places in order to fund Medicaid appropriately, or you\u2019re going to underfund Medicaid to fund others.\u00a0 That\u2019s the rub. <\/div><\/p>\n

Those two agencies will get the bulk of the attention.\u00a0 The other two agencies that have gotten hit some of the hardest would be public health districts and higher ed. Another one that hasn\u2019t been hit as hard, but we\u2019ve been blessed because we haven\u2019t had a lot of growth, and that\u2019s our corrections department.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been able to manage a pretty flat budget with them, and that\u2019s because we haven\u2019t had a big increase in inmates.\u00a0 That could change at any time.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>How do you balance agency needs with tax incentives?\u00a0 Is a new tax incentive or cut feasible?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>I\u2019m certain it will be discussed. I\u2019m less certain that it will meet muster.\u00a0 I know all of us want to look for ways to assist the economy further.\u00a0 Because, we know that\u2019s the short range plan for building ourselves out of the dilemma.\u00a0 Long range investment in the economy is an investment in education and higher education and community colleges, and we\u2019ll certainly be doing that.\u00a0 Short range investment in the economy requires some form of stimulus, either by tax credit<\/a> or tax break, or economic development funds.\u00a0 The debate will be difficult. \u00a0There will be many who will propose tax reductions, more for political purposes than necessary for effectiveness.\u00a0 One of the things we\u2019re going to caution is that if in fact you\u2019re going to do something, you\u2019re going to do something that will be truly effective.\u00a0 From my perspective, and this doesn\u2019t match with political motives, but we are a year away from being able to propose an appropriate tax package, maybe even longer than a year away.\u00a0 We are still well short of the revenue needed, and there are needs that are absolutely necessary.\u00a0 I also believe from a budgeting standpoint, the best economic tools the state can have is a balanced budget and the reserves to retain a balanced budget in the event of a double-dip recession or another downturn.\u00a0 One of the other difficulties is, if you fund some level of tax relief, it may end up being miniscule in nature to the average person or average business.\u00a0 I remember a few years ago when Governor Kempthorne proposed tax relief and he had a dollar amount he was trying to work within, and it was a $50 credit per person.\u00a0 Well, a $50 credit from the state, whether it be to a business or an individual,\u00a0 will not stimulate the economy.\u00a0 Sure, they might go out and spend that $50, but it really won\u2019t do anything.\u00a0 On the other hand, that $50 reinvested in some of the programs in the state will have significant results to the economy in the long run.\u00a0 Particularly if you put that amount in higher ed or community college or economic development programs.\u00a0 That will be part of the debate, the political side: everybody would love to do something and take credit for helping the economy.\u00a0 Then there\u2019s the other side, one has to be realistic.<\/p>\n

The question I think for the legislature is do they want the short term quick approach that may not be as effective or do they want the long-term, longer range economic stimulus.<\/div><\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Can the state be in the business of job creation?\u00a0 What can the state do to help growth?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>First and foremost is a stable tax environment and a stable budget.\u00a0 A message to businesses that might be looking to locate in Idaho,is \u00a0that Idaho has got their budget under control. They\u2019re not going to overspend. They\u2019re not going to put us in a situation where we\u2019ve got to come back and ask for tax increases.\u00a0 Secondly, with that comes an educated workforce.\u00a0 A workforce that provides the necessary tools and education to be able to perform these jobs.\u00a0 I\u2019ve painfully listened to businesses say they need to go outside the state or outside the country to find people to fill their needs.\u00a0 Well, that in my opinion is a fault of the state.\u00a0 That\u2019s a weakness of the state of Idaho that we need to address. In my opinion, that should be high on the to-do list.\u00a0 We certainly want less regulation.\u00a0 We obviously want to protect our clean air and clean water.\u00a0 So when I say less regulation, I don\u2019t mean put those things in jeopardy, but I do mean that the government needs to be as cooperative and working with industry as much as possible to make sure they\u2019re complying with the necessary safety features in a positive aspect rather than an adversarial approach.\u00a0 And to the extent possible we have resources, it\u2019s always nice to provide things like grants to help businesses to train their employees, particularly through our community college system.\u00a0 That\u2019s where the College of Western Idaho and College of Southern Idaho have done a great job over the years in providing that level of training.\u00a0 CWI is just getting their feet wet, and I can see them being a great economic boon to businesses that want to locate in the Treasure Valley.\u00a0 So, there are certain approaches than can be taken.\u00a0 The question I think for the legislature is do they want the short term quick approach that may not be as effective or do they want the long-term, longer range economic stimulus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Idaho Legislature convenes January 9th.\u00a0 In advance of the session, we interviewed several legislative leaders and asked them about Idaho’s economy and what the state could be doing to boost growth and job creation. Sen. Dean Cameron (R-Rupert) is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and co-chairman of the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee.\u00a0 JFAC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":2925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[121],"tags":[235,34,42],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2916"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2916"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3631,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2916\/revisions\/3631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}