Idaho’s 1st District Democratic nominee Jimmy Farris on Thursday released a decade of federal tax returns, citing former GOP presidential candidate George Romney and former U.S. Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho, who made similar disclosures.

GOP Congressman Raul Labrador declined to release his returns or to comment.

Farris gave more than $200,000 to charity during his high-income years as a player in the NFL.

Releasing the returns is a strategy to boost Farris’ name ID, said Jim Weatherby, emeritus professor of public policy at Boise State.

The tax returns show Farris made an excellent living between 2001 and 2007, his NFL years. His adjusted gross income for those tax years totaled about $1.4 million, averaging about $196,000 a year. Farris paid about $240,000 in taxes during those seven years.

Since his retirement, Farris’ financial fortunes have declined. He made about $75,000 a year in 2008 and 2009, but dropped to $11,000 in 2011 and $7,300 in 2012.

At a news conference Thursday, Farris also told reporters Labrador has failed to keep his promise to change Washington, D.C., for the better.

“The way business is done in Washington has definitely changed since Raul Labrador got there,” Farris said. “And it’s overwhelmingly for the worse.”

Dan Popkey: 377-6438, Twitter: @IDS_politics