Idaho Superintendent of Schools Marilyn Howard wasn’t the only one playing Santa Claus with taxpayer money this holiday season.

From the state Commission for the Blind to the Department of Correction, from the Department of Environmental Quality to Eastern Technical College, from the controller’s office to Juvenile Corrections, elected officials and department heads handed out cash bonuses like Christmas cookies and candy at the office. Spokesman-Review staff writer Betsy Russell reported this week that 661 state employees collected a total of $463,120 in bonuses.

That averages out to $700 apiece.

What’s more, Russell reported, the elected officials and agency heads were encouraged by the Republican Legislature to use this tactic to funnel money to valued employees “before other operational budget priorities are considered.” Also, the 2006 Legislature raised the cap on state employee bonuses from $1,000 to $2,000. All this must have been known to Gov. Jim Risch and the Republican legislators who ripped into Democrat Howard for doling out bonuses that averaged $960 apiece to 115 full-time employees and $61 to $600 bonuses to 19 part-time employees. Controller Keith Johnson was one of the few Republicans who spoke up for Howard during the feeding frenzy. But then, he should have. He gave bonuses averaging $488 to 86 employees.

Whether the individual handing out tax dollars is a Democrat or a Republican, the current practice rankles. It sets the stage for elected officials and agency directors to save budget money for the purpose of rewarding state employees rather than being frugal or channeling it into programs. Idaho state employees aren’t the best paid public workers in this country, particularly those involved in education. But many Idahoans in the private sector would relish the chance to earn state pay and benefits. The 2007 Legislature should heed Gov. Risch’s desire to increase oversight of merit bonuses in the wake of the Howard controversy.

Bonuses should be allowed only if they’re paid according to a preapproved plan that’s a matter of public record and is related directly to achievement of measurable, cost-saving and performance goals.

In the Idaho Statesman this month, Risch suggested a new law requiring the state Board of Examiners � the governor, the secretary of state and Idaho’s attorney general � to approve proposed bonuses recommended by elected statewide officials to avoid arbitrary payments. The governor was quoted as telling the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho: “I flat don’t like bonuses. There will not be any bonuses paid to any agency I have control over.”

Risch sidestepped controversy of his own in this matter after it was learned that a key employee of his had received a $2,000 bonus and a second one was in line for a $1,500 bonus.

His office explained that the first bonus addressed a snafu in which the employee had to pay for his own state insurance. The second bonus was rescinded. Risch ordered all bonuses in the pipeline in offices under his control not to be processed further.

Rather than encourage discretionary bonuses, legislators should work to increase employee salaries to reasonable levels.