Otter's top aide will lobby for Idaho Power

DATELINE: BOISE Idaho

Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's top aide is going to work as a lobbyist for the company that owns Idaho Power Co., becoming the latest member of state government to skip directly to a private-sector lobbying post where he could be asking his former boss and colleagues for help.

Jeff Malmen, Otter's chief of staff and one of the state's most influential Republicans, will be senior manager of government affairs for Idacorp, the holding company for the utility. Malmen, a chief of staff for former Gov. Phil Batt and former finance director under former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, had earned $120,000 annually under Otter $15,000 more than the governor, the state's top elected official.

Malmen is being replaced by Jason Kreizenbeck, now a lobbyist for Micron Technology Inc.

Idaho has no revolving-door laws that limit officials like Malmen from immediately going to work at private sector jobs in which they could be asking for concessions from state government.

Malmen, who will likely start his new job in December, told The Associated Press that after Idacorp approached him about taking the new position, he was careful to avoid conflicts while he's still a state employee.

"When they first approached me with an offer, I notified our counsel and recused myself from all those issues," Malmen said, adding his involvement with issues pertinent to Idaho Power has largely been reserved to tax-policy questions, not natural resource issues that are addressed by other staff members.

"The primary focus for me is going to be doing a lot of their federal stuff," said Malmen, who was also chief of staff when Otter was a U.S. House member from Idaho. "There will undoubtedly be some state stuff, too, but it will be mostly federal."

In the last 18 months, at least eight ex-lawmakers or staff for Otter and former Govs. Dirk Kempthorne and Jim Risch became lobbyists. They include former House Majority Caucus Chairwoman Julie Ellsworth, R-Boise, who won a lobbying job on the recommendation of House Speaker Lawerence Denny, R-Midvale; former House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley; and Lance Giles, Kempthorne's top adviser on his billion-dollar "Connecting Idaho" roads project. Giles went to work for the company that won the contract to oversee that highway work, Washington Group International.

Kempthorne's chief of staff, Brian Whitlock, also went to work as a lobbyist for the Battelle Energy Alliance, which runs the Idaho National Laboratory.

Some states require so-called "cooling-off periods" before government officials can lobby former colleagues. Montana, for instance, requires officials to wait two years before taking such jobs. It's a concern when former lawmakers or appointed state officials jump immediately to companies that hire them for their access to the leaders and administrators who shepherd taxpayer money, said Steve Carpinelli, of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Integrity.

"A lot of times when a company hires a person, they're doing so because they have access that you or I don't," Carpinelli said. "It comes down to the ethics of inside information: Are they profiting from their public position, and how is that a benefit to the public?"

Idaho Power, with 450,000 customers and control of much of the water in Idaho's rivers, is deeply entwined with Idaho state government. The company sued the state earlier this year over a 1984 water-rights agreement, contending the utility is due more water from the Idaho Department of Water Resources than it's been getting because of errors made in the 23-year-old pact.

In addition, Greg Panter, the company's top lobbyist, pushed successfully two years ago to kill farmer-backed legislation that would have taken water from its dams in order to recharge the drought-riddled Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. Malmen is due to eventually replace Panter, Idacorp Chief Executive Officer LaMont Keen said in a statement.

"Idaho Power Co. is currently managing a myriad of public policy challenges related to energy and the environment of tremendous importance to our customers," Keen said. "Jeff's extensive experience at both the federal and state level make him a great addition to our public affairs team."

Otter said he was sorry to see Malmen go, but thought he had a good replacement in Micron government affairs chief Kreizenbeck, a Republican activist who this year led a now-ended effort to draft U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, to run for a fourth term. Kreizenbeck worked as deputy campaign manager and finance director for the Mike Simpson for Congress campaign in 1998 and worked in 1994 for Gov. Batt's campaign.

"It's comforting to know that I will have a new chief of staff cut from the same bolt of cloth," Otter said.

The governor's office didn't immediately release Kreizenbeck's new salary. He starts at the end of November.