'What's nice and what's necessary'

COEUR d'ALENE - Idaho Gov. Butch Otter said Idaho is in great shape financially now because of conservative measures he and other state leaders took when times got tough.

Speaking to 270 members of the North Idaho business community on Wednesday at the Hagadone Event Center, Otter said the state didn't raise taxes when the last recession hit in December 2007 and dragged into 2009.

"When the dip first started, we paid all our bills, we had to cut back on government some, and we knew we were going to have to do that or we were going to have to raise taxes," the governor said.

Raising taxes would have only made the recession worse, he said.

During his speech, Otter gave the business community a mid-year report on the state of Idaho's economy.

But more than that, he reminded them he has been a good steward and deserves more time as governor. He has been a fair judge of "what's nice and what's necessary" when it comes to spending.

A lot of government was created when there was a lot of money, he said.

In 2007, when he became the governor, his budget was $3.2 billion. By 2010, it was down to $2.2 billion.

"We had to do a lot of corrective things in the state of Idaho," including considering cuts to public education, he said.

Education was cut by 7.5 percent, he said, and higher education even more.

"But we had to cut back the rest of government much greater than that," he said. "We did the same thing every family in Kootenai County had to do" during the recession.

State leaders gathered around a table, he said, and worked out what the state would be doing without for a while.

Because of the choices he and others made, Idaho has rebounded from the recession faster than other states. It is now the fifth-fastest growing economy in the United States.

Idaho, he said, is only topped now by coal, gas and oil extraction states like North Dakota and Wyoming.

"We grew at 4.1 percent, which is double the national average," Otter said.

He said that is because leaders in the state, like him, have created an environment where businesses are willing to jump in with investments, expansions and relocations.

He said unemployment in Kootenai County is 5.2 percent, but pointed out that is 2 percentage points lower than 12 months ago.

"That's because, once again, of the pleasant environment, the low-risk environment, the productive environment that we have created," he said.