Taxpayer-funded stretch limousines? Good luck explaining those away easily.
But that’s the predicament facing state Treasurer Ron Crane, who holds the lowest-profile elected position in Idaho government.
During his annual meetings with Wall Street ratings agencies — his most visible job obligation — Crane routinely hires limos to squire Idaho delegations around New York City.
The cost, from 2009 through 2011, approached $10,000, the Associated Press reported last week.
It’s hard to tell which is worse: the timing, or the appearance. That’s an academic question, because the two are virtually interchangeable.
During three of the most trying budget years in the state’s history — when legislators had to take a cleaver to public education, Medicaid, universities and nearly every other state agency — Idaho was doing its small part to support New York City’s limo services. And some of the same legislators who cut state budgets were riding alongside Crane.
How can this look anything but bad? Whether politicians like it or not — and at times such as this, they most strenuously dislike it — they need to constantly remember that they work in a business where perception is reality.
The reality, however, is more complicated.
As the AP reported, limo runs routinely cost more than $200, while a taxi trip from New York’s John F. Kennedy airport to Manhattan costs $50. But Crane’s office argues that the limos are more cost-effective, because they can accommodate more passengers. It’s also easier to schedule limo service, ensuring that the Idaho delegation can arrive at their appointments on time.
Looking past the rock-star and prom-night imagery of the limo, this is not a scandal. The big question here, in fact, may have nothing to do with how Idahoans traveled around Manhattan.
The question is how many Idahoans traveled around Manhattan.
For Crane and his staff, Wall Street is a business trip. The state sells some $500 million in short-term securities annually, transactions that help finance the daily operations of state government. The state’s bond rating is crucial. Consequently, genuflecting at the foot of the ratings agencies is a necessary function of doing the state’s business.
But how many people need to make the trip? How many legislators? And how many spouses or relatives of state officials?
In fairness, the guests travel largely on their own nickel, covering airfare and hotel and incidentals. But the larger the entourage, the more limos are needed to get people from place to place. This, in turn, drives up the costs, and taxpayers wind up subsidizing this ground transportation.
A scandal? No.
A black eye? Yes. And again, this is state treasurer, an office that doesn’t make policy. The only headlines this office can make are bad ones.
What has evolved here is an annual and necessary business trip that has turned a little too loose for the taxpayers’ good. The state should send only the minimum number of officials necessary for the meetings. Guests need to cover all costs, without exception.
Sometimes it takes an embarrassing situation to bring best practices into better focus.
“Our View” is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman’s editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, email editorial@idahostatesman.com.
