In his budget proposal, Gov. Butch Otter proposed a four-year phase out of general fund dollars to Idaho Public Television. The proposal has gotten plenty of attention in the 24 hours since.

Otter said several times Monday that IPTV has a private constituency that should be able to sustain the network. His chief budget officer echoed those sentiments during a meeting with the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.

Wayne Hammon, Gov. Otter's chief budget officer, just told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that the very preliminary revenue numbers for December are $13 million behind forecast.  If those numbers prove correct, that would mean the state needs to make that up before July 1 in addition to the $40 million holdback that Otter proposed Monday.

Other highlights from Hammon's presentation to JFAC:

Otter: "My speech is going to be longer than the session."

Otter congratulates the Idaho and Boise State football teams on their recent bowl victories.

"Our people's indomitable spirit remains the same."

"Idahoans are independent and freedom loving as ever."

" What governemnt does, it must do well, effective and efficiently. ... They beleive the best government is the government closest to the people."

Brian Murphy
bmurphy@idahostatesman.com

Gov. Butch Otter said Thursday that he has told department heads to plan for holdbacks and will announce Monday the extent of the immediate cuts.

Though he wouldn’t give details about what he is going to announce in Monday’s State of the State, he said that next year’s budget would include no growth from the already cut budget this year.

Otter said the executive branch has been more optimistic than legislative leaders in their assessments for Idaho’s economic future.