OPINION: Lewis-Clark rebrand still faces strong headwinds

'I told her I wasn't trying to kill it,' Moyle said. 'It's not something that Mike Moyle is worried about. I'm not a fan. ... It's just, there's a lot of other fish to fry right now.' The budget picture — which hindered higher education across the board in the last Legislature — hasn't improved. And Pemberton hardly helped her cause by the selection of her latest cosponsor, Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d'Alene. Redman allocated an unprecedented amount of his money — more than $325,000 — toward helping legislative allies and kicking adversaries in the spring GOP primary. Among his beneficiaries were Rep. Kyle Harris, R-Lewiston, who received $26,683, Troy Republican House nominee Colton Bennett, who got $24,643, and Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Moscow, who collected $1,663. Redman prevailed in little more than half of the 26 campaigns he targeted. But that leaves the rest. And for any number of those GOP candidates who survived the onslaught of Redman's cash, his brand is bordering on something close to toxic. Much the same could be said for the speaker. As Bryan Clark of the Idaho Statesman recently wrote, Redman's venture would be seen as a threat to Moyle's tenure. By not punishing Redman for intervening in legislative primaries — something that once cost former House Speaker Lawerence Denney his leadership post — 'Moyle is giving the impression that he is the one thing he has never been in his political career: weak,' Clark noted. Then there's Senate State Affairs Committee Chairperson Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon. Redman backed Guthrie's unsuccessful GOP primary challenger to the tune of $23,874. Guthrie is not without influence. Last year, he pulled off the near impossible — persuading his colleagues to kill a proposed cut in health and human services simply through the force of his floor debate. Any bets what he'll do with anything attached to Redman? On top of that is the default position of many GOP lawmakers: If LC wants university status, why not merge it with the UI? Because, Pemberton told them earlier this year, it would mean a hit to the taxpayers. Faculty salaries in Lewiston would have to match those in Moscow, at a cost of $2.8 million. It would work a hardship to students, whose tuition would rise to the amounts charged at the UI. And because one university cannot be active in both NCAA and NAIA athletics, it could mean suspending LCSC's programs — hitting the Lewiston-Clarkston economy to the tune of $11 million.