Batt Puts $3 Million On Shelf Check Part Of N-Waste Deal, But Initiative Clouds Future
Gov. Phil Batt got a $3 million check from the federal government to replace dwindling Idaho National Engineering Laboratory jobs, but he is not ready to spend it.
It is part of the court settlement that allows the Energy Department to continue shipping nuclear waste to the lab if it cleans up the site and provides economic diversification funds.
It is the first installment of a $30 million fund. Now that a voter initiative challenges the settlement, though, Batt is afraid he will not get the rest of the money.
He said he will wait for the vote and a possible court review of the initiative to see how much money the state has to spend.
“I will not be a party to spending this money until this matter is cleared up,” Batt said Monday in Idaho Falls.
The agreement between the Department of Energy and Idaho calls for another $3 million payment next month, then $6 million in each of the next four calendar years. Batt said the $6 million expected this year is Idaho’s to keep. But he fears the next $24 million would disappear with the settlement agreement if the initiative succeeds.
“If the court upholds the initiative, that will likely be the last money Idaho will see to diversify the economy,” Batt said.
A spokesman for the pro-initiative group Stop the Shipments called Energy’s position “bribery.”
“I think it’s a shame that the Department of Energy would try to use this money to strongarm Idahoans into voting the right way,” David Proctor said.
He added that Stop the Shipments is not interested in costing jobs, but wants the laboratory to emphasize nuclear cleanup technologies rather than waste storage.
The money gives eastern Idaho a crutch to support itself in the face of more than 4,000 lost laboratory jobs so far this decade.
The governor said he plans to funnel at least part of the diversification money through the Eastern Idaho Community Reuse Organization, appointed by the Energy Department.
“You people here in eastern Idaho know more about your needs than I do,” he said.
The money would go along the same routes as existing funds: business loans, venture capital investments and business incubators.