I have been an observer of local and Idaho State politics for years. I have never been a lobbyist or a corporate insider. My four years on the Your Health Idaho Health Insurance Exchange Board allowed me access to both the Department of Insurance and The Department of Health and Welfare. I learned that many state employees viewed themselves as true public servants. I also learned that many in the legislature in both parties viewed themselves the same way. That time on the Board also confirmed to me the words of Peggy Noonan that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but bends toward mischief”. No truer words could be said about the “process of governing” at both the local and State levels of government in Idaho today.
Whether one is an out of state real estate contractor in Garden City or Meridian, or a lobbyist—Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry (IACI). or the Idaho Hospital-Medical Association (IHA-IHA), the successful corruption process—the outside courting of favor and influence, is directly proportional to the politician-office holder’s willingness to be manipulated. Interests of citizens and constituents may be very different from powerful special interests with lots of money. Citizens at the State, Local, and Federal level cannot begin to muster up the financial leverage that the lobbyists and special interests can muster. The Interests of the (IMA-IHA) are directly in line with the interests of the corporations they represent, not the patients those corporations serve. Same can be said about The Idaho Education Association (IEA) that contributes to the political coffers of politicians at levels that individuals cannot compete against.
Think about what happened in Virginia recently. The interests of teachers and administrators and school districts, not necessarily the interests of parents and students, were able to control the political PROCESS. We saw that dynamic play out big time in Loudin County Virginia three years ago, when the National Education Association (NEA) tried to criminalize parenteral participation in the local implementation of school policies. Because of the financial leverage that organization could wield, the Biden Justice Department was able to intervene in local Loudin County dynamics between the school board/ administrators and teachers, and parents and teachers. Tension between those with different political interests should always be present and be part of the PROCESS OF GOVERNANCE. When government itself and especially when special interests acting through government agencies or through politicians who allow themselves to be controlled via a campaign contribution, a meal at the Arid Club, or a round of golf or a pool pass at The River Club, the process of governance is tainted and the voices of WE THE PEOPLE ARE SUPPRESSED. This is why citizens become suspicious not only of their government, but of the representatives they have elected to serve their interests.
Power that is abused or misplaced by either party needs to be called out. What happened last week in the Idaho legislature happens several times every year and demands examination. House Bill 138 that called for Medicaid waivers from the Fed that included work requirements and incentivizing paths toward career development passed the Idaho House of Representatives after passing the House Health and Welfare Committee. The Bill then went to The Senate for a Committee hearing. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee Chair Julie VanOrden was then lobbied hard by the (IHA-IMA) lobbyist to not put the Bill before her Committee. Instead, she put it in her desk drawer, thus not allowing it to get to the Senate floor for a vote—it would have easily passed, and then on to the Governor’s desk.
Who benefited from this particular Bill not being Heard? The large hospital systems and insurance carriers. Not patients. Remember this Bill pertained only to the Medicaid Expansion Population—young and healthy adults, not those on traditional Medicaid who may be living on the margins and through no fault of their own are suffering from chronic situations that they have no control over. By not coming out in the open and making legislators and our Governor take a stand, the people of Idaho have been harmed—no matter how the vote might have ended up. Mr. Brian Whitlock is the lobbyist for the (IHA). He is also one of our Governor’s closest confidants and advisors. He sat on the Covid advisory Board that gave very poor advice to our Governor during the not so complicated times of the faux pandemic.
Also to blame regarding this “failure of process” are the legislators themselves, including several but not all in leadership in both Houses. How is this behind-the-scenes manipulation of the process helping WE THE PEOPLE?
There is a common theme in all that is happening regarding the ‘Process of governance”. Those in control have blocked attempts for a “Covid out brief” or after-action report. They have blocked attempts for external outside audits of government agencies like at least 11 states have adopted and that DOGE is doing at the Federal level. They have actively suppressed any outside audits of LUMA or The Idaho Health Data Exchange or of Medicaid. What are citizens to think about our process of governing in Idaho?
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but bends toward mischief”. It seems recently to be bending toward Idaho!
