KTRV Fox 12 Idaho agency budget delayed amid conflict over IEN
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Associated Press - March 11, 2010 4:44 PM ET
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The state won't set the budget for the Department of Administration, opting to wait until mediation begins over a lawsuit targeting the $60 million Idaho Education Network.
Sen. Dean Cameron, the Republican budget committee head, said Thursday House and Senate leadership instructed him to hold off setting the budget until the out-of-court talks begin next week.
Telecommunication company Syringa Networks has sued the state, saying it had been illegally excluded from a deal to help build the network.
Rancor over the next $3 million installment for the broadband education network has spilled over into the public, with Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's budget director firing off a terse e-mail Wednesday directed at Cameron warning against any delays to handing out the money.
House and Senate GOP leadership met with Otter early Thursday to discuss the delay.
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