Gov. Brad Little’s $60,000 annual housing stipend will stay the same over the next year, but state lawmakers want to explore finally building or buying a home for Idaho’s top executive.
Idaho is one of five states without a governor’s residence since it returned a Boise Foothills mansion in 2013 originally donated by J.R. Simplot. Governors ever since have received a stipend to offset their housing costs.
Brad Little, Idaho’s current governor, owns a home in Emmett, but also rents an apartment in downtown Boise.
On Wednesday, a legislative committee directed the state department of administration to organize a panel that would study the issue.
Rep. Jaron Crane (R-Nampa) said it makes more sense for the state to invest in an asset that would appreciate in value.
“I feel like that might be a more appropriate route to consider going forward is to just have a governor’s house or mansion, if we were so fortunate to have something square footage-wise that would categorize as that,” Crane said.
Sen. Ali Rabe (D-Boise), the only other lawmaker currently on the Governor’s Housing Committee, generally agreed.
Rabe, who’s the executive director of the affordable housing nonprofit Jesse Tree, said she’s concerned the monthly stipend is based on a market analysis instead of Little’s actual housing costs, which aren’t known.
“I feel like we should be approving a budget that meets the need and the actual cost,” she said.
The state already owns 15 acres in the Boise Foothills along West Horizon Drive set aside for a governor’s mansion, along with about $200,000 that could be used toward construction or furnishings.
Department of Administration officials think the new committee to consider building or buying a governor’s residence could meet in the next few months.
Meanwhile, the fund used to pay the governor’s monthly stipend is close to being fully drawn. The account held about $131,000 as of June 30, the end of the fiscal year.
Crane and Rabe recommended including annual budget appropriations from state legislators to top off the fund as they consider building or buying a new residence.
Little’s office included that proposal in its budget earlier this year, but the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee chose not to fund it.
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