As Rep. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, came before the House State Affairs Committee this morning to pitch his bill to sell Idaho's unoccupied governor's mansion and shift funds to the state park system, committee Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, told him, "Good morning - I didn't know you were in the real estate business." Burgoyne responded, "Everybody in the Treasure Valley is in the real estate business, Mr. Chairman."

Burgoyne's bill would eliminate the governor's housing committee and put the mansion, formerly the Simplot mansion, up for sale. The Simplot family, which donated the mansion, has first right of refusal to take it back. "No governor has lived in a governor's mansion for 24 years," Burgoyne told the committee. "The mansion has and continues to cost the state of Idaho money, and we are looking literally under every rock for money this session, we will be next session, and we will be for the foreseeable future. ... The maintenance and upkeep of the mansion costs approximately $120,000 per year."

The housing fund that pays those maintenance costs has dropped to $981,000, Burgoyne said, and if the state stays on its current path, that money eventually will be spent "and we will find ourselves ... having to appropriate funds to care for the mansion." Plus, he said, "It does not seem to me that it is prudent to continue to spend money on an asset that we are unable to use, in a budget crisis."

Rep. Max Black, R-Boise, objected, "You're mandating that we ultimately take a loss, because we're all aware of what the real estate market is. ... Is it best to save this property and wait until the market recovers?" Burgoyne said the state would get the best price it could. "I think we are in an emergency budget situation," he said. "The prudent course for us to take is to sell this property now rather than bet that we can get more money later."