BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- In a rare freshman power play, 16 House Republican newcomers pledged Wednesday to support Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's proposal for a state-designed insurance exchange - provided it's coupled with protections giving the Idaho Legislature more oversight over how it's set up and operated.
Otter's plan to build a state-based, nonprofit marketplace to offer insurance to individuals and small businesses, required under President Obama's health care overhaul come 2014, is awaiting full Senate debate.
On Wednesday morning, the House group that includes most of the chamber's 24 GOP freshmen said they'd support that measure if it includes provisions forbidding Idaho from using state taxpayer money to fund it, adds two non-voting legislators to an 18-member exchange board of directors and requires the board meet openly, so the public can monitor its decisions.
Debate over an Idaho-based exchange has been politically charged, with many residents who attended a Senate hearing last week angrily urging lawmakers to reject it, on grounds it was acquiescing to Washington pressure.
"I wasn't looking for cover," said Rep. Robert Anderst, R-Nampa, and a member of the freshman group, on why he joined amid the tense rhetoric. "I was looking for the best way forward. Individually, we have little to no influence. But as a group, if there are things we can do to help in this effort, let's stand together."
Otter's office indicated that he supports the group's push.
"The House had concerns - we're just addressing those concerns," said Tammy Perkins, one of the Republican governor's aides. "This is just going to make them more confident with the legislation, and we're fine with that."
Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, also offered tentative support.
"I haven't read the bill, but I've talked to them about it in concept," Hill told The Associated Press. "As near as I can tell, they're good additions."
Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d'Alene, and another leader of the freshman group, said its members still oppose Obama's 2010 law, but believe an exchange is inevitable after it passed U.S. Supreme Court muster in 2012.
Rather than adopting a federal exchange, as about 25 other Republican-led states have opted to do, Malek argued that the best path for Idaho is to design a state-specific version coupled with strong governance rules.
"We have introduced legislation in the insurance exchange battle that protects individual rights, defends state sovereignty and gives Idaho what we believe to be the best option for dealing with the realities of Obamacare," Malek said.
The group's bill won introduction Wednesday in the House Health and Welfare Committee.
Just a single member - House Majority Caucus Chairman John Vander Woude, of Nampa, - opposed its introduction.
"I'm against a state exchange," Vander Woude said afterward. "Why would I vote for something that helps create it?"
Wayne Hoffman, leader of the Idaho Freedom Foundation and fierce state exchange opponent, was also disappointed that so many GOP freshmen were behind the bill - a development that suggests there are now plenty of House votes for Otter's plan.
To pass, the exchange bill and the freshman group's companion measure need at least 36 votes.
One of the 16 freshmen, Rep. Kelley Packer, of McCammon, said she's been threatened by some that her political career would be in jeopardy in the 2014 election, if she backed a state exchange. She didn't say who.
That's a risk Packer said she's willing to take, provided the appropriate sideboards are in place.
"Simply doing nothing is irresponsible," she said.
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