From House Speaker Lawerence Denney.

The speaker recommended Ellsworth -- his former colleague in House GOP leadership -- to lobby on behalf of a California developer.

Ellsworth got the job.

The developer got its bill, a questionable rewrite of tax policy, past the Legislature. It now goes to Gov. Butch Otter's desk -- with veto-proof majority support.

Let this be a lesson. While Idaho's aging Statehouse certainly is past due for a makeover, the revolving door -- allowing ex-legislators to walk right into lobbying -- remains in smooth working order.

If anything, the Ellsworth situation suggests the system is too smooth and relationships are too cozy.

An Associated Press story, which appeared in Wednesday's Statesman, lays out a fascinating political tale of influence and intrigue.

In fairness to Ellsworth, the most unsavory details reflect most poorly on Denney. According to the AP, the Midvale Republican urged the developer, Foursquare Properties Inc. , to fire lobbyist Jerry Deckard . Deckard, a former legislator and longtime Statehouse lobbyist, supported Denney's opponent, then-state Rep. Bill Deal of Nampa, in the GOP's internal election for speaker.

Denney told the AP that he recommended several possible replacements, including Ellsworth.

Foursquare, apparently willing to listen when a speaker speaks, changed lobbyists and hired Ellsworth in February.

The company's proposal (House Bill 250 , sponsored by Denney, House Majority Leader Mike Moyle of Star and three other legislators), passed earlier this month, a year after a similar bill died in committee. This time around, lawmakers set the troubling precedent of allowing businesses to call the shots about where their tax dollars would go. The bill would allow outdoor retailer Cabela's to use sales taxes to reimburse Foursquare for the cost of building a highway interchange to its new North Idaho store.

The whole mess raises questions about whether Denney used his power to punish a political adversary and reward an ally. Denney did not respond to a request Wednesday for an interview. However, this unseemly situation is compounded when former legislators can jump straight into lobbying.

Ellsworth was following the rules.

Unfortunately, the rules are fatally flawed.

They feed into cynics' darkest suspicions about the way the legislative process works. They perpetuate the appearance that ex-lawmakers can leverage experience and connections into jobs that could easily exceed their $16,115-a-year salary for elective service. They at least blur the lines between citizen legislators -- working part time and with little or no staff -- and the lobbyists they lean on for technical information.

At least 28 states require legislators to wait before taking a lobbying job. The most stringent cooling-off period runs two years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

A two-year cooling-off period -- the length of an Idaho legislative term -- seems reasonable.

A cooling-off period is hardly a new concept, even in Idaho. Sen. Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow , pro-posed a bill in 2005. In 2006, when lawmakers of both parties agreed to require lobbyists to register before trying to influence the executive branch of government, Democrats pushed the revolving-door idea again.