Democratic candidate for governor Keith Allred is criticizing Gov. Butch Otter's recommendation to phase out state funding to the Idaho Human Rights Commission. In a statement released Monday, Allred also commended former Gov. Phil Batt for his efforts in 1969 to create the commission. Allred quotes an Associated Press interview with Batt from 1998.
That AP story was written by Mark Warbis, who is now Otter's communications director.

Read Allred's news release below:

On this day of service and celebration, Keith Allred, candidate for Governor of Idaho 2010 says Idahoans have much to celebrate.
“We are blessed to live in a country founded on the conviction that all are created equal,” said Allred. “It is up to us to advance that ideal.”
The chief irony of today is this: The very agency charged with protecting and monitoring human rights in Idaho is threatened with deletion by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter.
Otter has proposed to eliminate state general funding for the Idaho Human Rights Commission over a period of four years, saving $144,000 in the first year.
The Idaho Human Rights Commission was signed into law in 1969, following the diligent efforts of Republican State Sen. Phil Batt.
Batt, who would go on to become Governor of Idaho in 1995, talked about his efforts in a 1998 interview with Associated Press reporter Mark Warbis:
“Bigotry and racial discrimination are a part of humankind. It’s always existed; it always will. And Idaho is not without its problems. But I think those of us who hold high positions should, on the proper occasions, try to lead our people in a better understanding.”
“On this day, Otter’s proposal falls short of the imperative established by our state’s great leaders,” said Allred. “Idahoans deserve better.”