Governor Otter’s Transportation Detour

By Branden at August 11th, 2009.

The recently convened State of Idaho Transportation Task Force might as well be called the Transportation Detour. At least that would be more believable (and accurate).

During Idaho’s 2009 Legislative Session Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter pushed hard for increased funding to maintain, preserve, and expand Idaho’s highway and bridges. The funding mechanisms included controversial proposals to increases the fuel use tax (a.k.a. “gas tax”) and registration fees for non-commercial vehicles. Despite spending as much political capital as he could muster, Otter’s plan got into the equivalent of a 105 car pile-up.

The media tells the story of miscommunication and mishandling and they are right, partly. The truth of the matter is the real problem with the way Otter tried to handle the transportation debate was something much deeper. Otter, who to that point really hadn’t done that good of job in the relationship building department, was taking on a difficult task to be sure. However, it wasn’t mission impossible. Otter’s failure was at the strategic level.

When thinking about how to approach the issue of raising revenues, Otter had two mutually exclusive options. He could either take the time tested approach of focusing all his attention on the super-majority wielding Republic Caucuses or he could try to identify a “coalition of the willing” and try to make a deal with the Devil (the House Democrats). Regrettably, at least for Otter, he went with option one and the rest as they say, is history.

Yes, there were a lot external factors driving the debate including the increasingly poor economy and the Tea Party phenomenon. None of them should have had the power to kill the plan, but they did. Otter should have known how thin of skin most legislators in Idaho have because he has been one. That isn’t always a negative. Actually, that thin skin can prove to be pretty useful when it comes to understanding what your constituents want. Unfortunately, in a more sophisticated public policy environment that uses things like astroturfing to fabricate support or opposition, without a cogent strategy, nothing is possible.

The success of the Transportation Task Force will now try to rebuild the momentum. Unfortunately, once again the Otter has gone back to the option one strategy in naming his participants. Yes, there are two token Democrats, one of which, state Senator Edgar Malepeai (D-33) wasn’t even at the 2009 Session due to some personal circumstances. However, to win the argument, Otter should have been more willing to embrace those legislators that would have been more likely to support a tax increase. That, generally speaking, would have been the Democrats. By placing only two Democrats on the Task Force, Otter is either incredibly forgetful, or worse. The bottom line is that no transportation revenue enhancement plan will pass with out a vast majority of House Democrats support. To not ask them to be at the table is foolhardy. So instead of getting to the destination you can count on a long detour leading to the same old unsuccessful strategy.

Tags: Butch Otter, featured, Idaho, Transportation