OPINION: Cheers & Jeers: Cronyism in the state of Idaho

JEERS ... to Idaho Gov. Brad Little.

No two agencies of government demand public confidence more than the Idaho State Lottery and the Idaho State Liquor Dispensary.

Yet the governor has engaged in crass political cronyism with his choice to replace veteran director Jeff Anderson with former National Rifle Association interim CEO and Executive Vice President Andrew Arulanandam.

Arulanandam hasn’t worked in the state since the turn of the century — and more often than not, he was a political operative, including a turn as executive director of the Idaho Republican Party and finance director for former Gov. Phil Batt’s 1994 gubernatorial campaign.

For two dozen years, he’s been at the NRA, where he learned how to respond to every fatal school shooting, from Sandy Hook Elementary School to Stoneman Douglas High School, with a shrug, a heavy dose of whataboutism and defensiveness but very little about watchdogging the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on lottery tickets or bourbon.

And Arulanandam, who officially retired from the NRA on Sunday, can’t escape the taint that comes from serving under former CEO and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.

Corruption swirled around LaPierre, who engaged in a lavish lifestyle at the NRA’s expense. LaPierre resigned earlier this year just before a six-week civil trial ordered him to repay the NRA almost $4.4 million.

Arulanandam will be paid an annualized salary of $200,012 to run the lottery and liquor dispensary. Anderson was earning $186,222 a year.

Couldn’t Little find anyone — either in Idaho state government or out — who was better qualified?

It doesn’t pass the smell test.

CHEERS ... to Lewiston Mayor Dan Johnson and the city council.

A proposed budget that included a 3% tax increase — generating about $710,629 in new revenues — has been whittled down to no tax increase at all.

“I met with city staff who did a great job identifying areas that we could reduce and allow for some savings in each of these areas,” said Councilor Hannah Liedkie.

But in so doing, city leaders ignored the Idaho Legislature’s incentive toward profligate spending.

Engineered by House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, lawmakers three years ago largely did away with the ability of local governments to bank deferred tax increases for future years when they might be needed. Had the council agreed to go ahead with the $710,629 in new taxes, that money would be folded into the budget base. Leaving it on the table now means they can draw only a portion of that so-called “foregone” tax money for unexpected ongoing expenses down the road or take more on a one-time basis for capital projects.

Lewiston’s leaders looked out for the taxpayer, no thanks to Moyle.

JEERS ... to Idaho Health and Welfare Director Alex Adams.

He’s put a freeze on new applicants who are entitled to child care subsidies.

Adams makes the case that the Idaho Child Care Program is running a deficit because of increased reimbursements, lower copays and expanded eligibility.

That leaves an estimated 300 families a month — all of them with modest incomes — out in the cold.

But legislative Democrats argue that the state has all the resources it needs.

“Idaho has $50 million in unspent federal dollars for child care programs like the ICCP,” writes Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise. “These funds could easily be used to ensure that families continue to receive the support they were promised.”

When Idaho runs into a financial hole during wildfire season, it doesn’t pull firefighters out of the field. It continues investing in those resources and then settles accounts with a supplemental appropriation once the Legislature convenes in January.

What’s the difference here?

Half of Idaho’s families couldn’t find accessible child care even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced more than 200 centers out of business in 2020. If you don’t invest in child care for working families, then some parents will be forced to stay home — adding to the state’s workforce shortage.

Unfortunately, it’s all part of a familiar pattern. Idaho turned back federal money to help educate young children, refuses to fund pre-kindergarten programs and even rejected spending federal funds to help feed low-income kids.

CHEERS ... to Hallie Johnson.

She had a front-row seat to the lapses in Idaho’s criminal justice system. Her brother, 45-year-old Lewiston native and Boise resident Milo Warnock, had the misfortune to suffer from depression, bipolar disorder and alcoholism while living in the Gem State.

So on Warnock’s third drunken driving offense, 4th District Judge Peter Barton threw him in prison for two years. When Warnock ran afoul of prison medical regulations, he was thrown into the Idaho State Correctional Institution’s maximum security unit — and assigned a cellmate with a history of violence.

Two weeks before Christmas, Warnock was beaten to death.

It took eight months before Warnock’s cellmate, 33-year-old James M. Johnson, was indicted for first-degree murder.

It’s a classic case of a criminal justice system forgetting the humanity of the people placed in its trust.

But Johnson has drawn inspiration from personal tragedy, forming Idaho Families for Sentencing Integrity with the goal of keeping more people out of prison, reducing the incidence of repeat offenders and responding to addiction with more than a jail cell.

“I really want to see changes in the system in Idaho,” she said. “There are some things to me that seem really simple.” — M.T.