Though a legal challenge in January by a fish producer near Hagerman that threatened to shut down up to 157,000 acres of farm ground was at least temporarily resolved last week, Lynn Tominaga, a lobbyist for the groundwater group, said there are scores of potential projects his group may now be able to undertake to remedy persistent water shortages and avoid similar conflicts in the future. In early January, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter announced he wanted to spend nearly $11 million no longer needed for the bond payments to offset Idaho's share of the Medicaid health insurance program for low-income, elderly and disabled people. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network floated the notion of funding long-term tobacco-cessation programs — or creating a more robust campaign to keep young people from lighting up_could pay dividends in terms of future health-related costs. During debate Friday, the bill's few naysayers argued the highway funding provisions were a radical departure from Idaho's tradition of paying for road and bridge work with fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees — not with general taxpayer money needed for education, prisons and Medicaid.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 41 minutes ago.
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