In his remarks to reporters today at the AP's legislative preview, Gov. Butch Otter answered "no comment" when asked if he's asked his current state Tax Commission chairman, Royce Chigbrow, to resign. Otter also said, in response to a reporter's question, that the state is reviewing its contract with Corrections Corp. of America over the troubled prison operation at the Idaho Correctional Center south of Boise, but gave no details. "We are reviewing it to see where we can improve it, but I'm not prepared to tell you ... that we have some changes that we're going to make and what those changes are."

Asked about expected budget shortfalls, Otter said, "I think there are some things we're going to be offering up that I've already spoken to the legislative leadership about, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee about, some changes that we can make that ... could lessen that shortfall having made those changes," he said. "But I've also heard the shortfall is as little as $120 million and as much as $500 million. So I guess that's still anybody's guess."