Keough's clout critical for voice of North Idaho

Sen. Shawn Keough of Sandpoint may be in one of the most dynamic and powerful positions in the Idaho Legislature, but there’s not much glory in how she begins each day as co-chair of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.

Every morning is like taking a sedative, without the pill. The committee consists of 20 stone-faced lawmakers who look as though they are warming up for a high-stakes poker tournament. Of course, there’s not a lot of comic relief that goes with the mind-numbing exercise of combing through miles of numbers and volumes of budget analysis.

As powerful as JFAC is, budget writing isn’t for everybody. Committees such as Health and Welfare, State Affairs and Education tend to be more exciting. During my days covering the session, I generally left JFAC coverage to people who were much smarter, such as former Associated Press writer Bob Fick, who knew the state budget better than most legislators. I’m lousy with numbers and my wife won’t let me get near our bank statements.

But Keough, who has been on JFAC for much of her 20 years in the state Senate, thrives on the budgeting process. Education and transportation are big issues in her part of the state, and she has given North Idaho a strong voice.

“People in my district feel their issues are not understood by Southern Idaho,” Keough says.

That’s an understatement. Folks in North Idaho will offer more graphic descriptions about the understanding, or lack of understanding, from the south. But none of those descriptions will come from Keough, whose grace matches her intelligence. When former Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron took the job as director of the Department of Insurance, Keough was the logical successor. Since she was the vice chairman of the committee, the transition to the top was easy.

Keough is all business when the Legislature is in session. She arrives at the Statehouse by 7 a.m. to prepare for the daily JFAC meeting. She’ll gladly meet with constituents over lunch, or during evening receptions. Otherwise, she’ll quietly take a bowl of soup to the office for lunch to study up on the budget. Most evenings are spent crunching the numbers.

Her days are long, but she’d be the last one to complain. She calls it part of the “honor” of serving.

But not everyone is a fan. Keough survived a tough re-election battle last year and could face spirited opposition again this time. Her district, as with others in North Idaho, has gone from “moderate” to heavily conservative. Two of Keough’s House counterparts, Heather Scott and Sage Dixon, are a part of the new wave of conservatives in the Legislature.

Wayne Hoffman, director of the conservative Idaho Freedom Foundation, says he’s taking a “wait-and-see” approach before evaluating Keough’s performance as the JFAC co-chair.

“The governor has proposed an 8.5 percent increase in general fund spending, when you count in all the accounting gimmicks,” Hoffman said. “If Keough allows that to happen, or more specifically, if she does nothing to fight it, that will pretty well tell where she is. Last year, she had the most liberal voting record of the Republicans in the Senate. Hope springs eternal that she will do more to favor conservative principles this year.”

Keough, who views Hoffman’s efforts overall as “unproductive,” will not be going out of her way to satisfy the IFF. She sides with Gov. Butch Otter in his push for more education funding. According to Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill of Rexburg, increased funding for education is hardly a “liberal” platform.

“Shawn Keough is conservative, and especially conservative on financial issues,” Hill says. “We have a very conservative Legislature, and I would put that up against any legislature in the nation.”

Voters in Keough’s district will have quite a choice to make in the next primary election. I remember the day when a co-chairmanship of JFAC was highly coveted because of the clout that the position carried. Suddenly, at least in some circles, the co-chairmanship is a bad thing.

It Keough is tossed out, the JFAC co-chairmanship probably will go to someone in the south. Then people can go back to complaining about the lack of power delegated to North Idaho.

Chuck Malloy is a native Idahoan and long-time political reporter and editorial writer. He is a former political editor with the Post Register of Idaho Falls and a former editorial writer with the Idaho Statesman. He may be contacted at: ctmalloy@outlook.com