Take a pair of state lawmakers operating under an ethical cloud.

Add in a governor looking for a favor.

Presto.

Here's how things get done in Idaho.

Start with the strong sense of entitlement shared between state Rep. Janet Trujillo, R-Idaho Falls, and her husband, House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star.

Earlier this year, the Idaho Falls Post Register's Bryan Clark discovered the power couple had accepted $6,400 from the taxpayers under questionable circumstances.

As a lawmaker whose district is about 300 miles away from Boise, Trujillo received a living allowance to cover the cost of arranging for lodging in Boise.

That worked out to $129 a day.

Lawmakers who reside near Boise and have no need of a second residence receive only $49 a day.

Presumably, Trujillo stayed at the couple's marital home near Star. All of which means they cleared enough extra money during the course of the 80-day legislative session to buy groceries for a family of four for one year or pay a student's tuition at Lewis-Clark State College for two semesters.

Trujillo and Moyle have never explained themselves.

They've never apologized.

As far as anyone knows, they've never returned the money.

In a state where the politicians police themselves - no member of the public can launch an ethics investigation - Trujillo and Moyle are in the clear.

Leadership on both sides of the aisle have taken refuge in the ambiguity of the rules governing legislative compensation.

Clearly, Moyle knows better.

When a pair of former Republican state senators - John McGee of Caldwell and Curt McKenzie of Nampa - took the full living allowance despite the fact they did not incur housing costs in Boise, he said: "I don't think it smells good; I don't think it looks good; and if it were one of my members, I would highly advise against it."

But in Idaho, bad behavior not only frequently gets ignored; it gets

rewarded.

Wednesday, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter told the annual Associated Taxpayers of Idaho gathering that he was appointing Trujillo to the State Tax Commission at a salary of about $96,000.

Along with the state Industrial Commission - which pays $100,900 - and the state Public Utilities Commission - which pays $103,755 - this is one of the plum gubernatorial appointments.

For Trujillo, it's quite a step up from her job as a commercial appraiser in the Bonneville County assessor's office, where she earns about $49,600.

It's also a nice bump in her state Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho pension.

Technically, it's not the "PERSI bump" so many other lawmakers have obtained when Otter promoted them into high-paying jobs. For instance, former state Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, converted decades of low-paying legislative service into a sizeable pension by earning $102,273 as the state insurance director for 42 months.

For Cameron, the move takes what would have been a $750 a month payout up to a $4,845 a month pension.

As a 13-year full-time county employee, Trujillo, on the other hand, was already in line to claim a monthly pension check of $1,284 upon retirement at age 65.

The Idaho Freedom Foundation's Dustin Hurst looked over the figures and estimated Trujillo's promotion to the tax commission will boost her retirement pay to about $2,960 a month.

Nobody's saying Trujillo - who also serves as vice chairwoman of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee - is unqualified for the appointment. But there are plenty of people out there who are equally credentialed without the ethical baggage she carries.

So why did Otter look the other way?

Consider the second point of his address to the ATI.

Last year, it took Otter's veto to stop lawmakers from lifting the state's 6 percent sales tax from groceries, a move that would have cost $80 million at a time when the governor is focused on shoring up public school support.

"I hope we don't have to go through what we went through last year, because I feel very certain that is probably the most stable and predictable source that we have," Otter said. "I guess I'm putting everybody on notice that my attitude hasn't changed toward that."

Nobody is in a better position to see Otter gets his way than the House majority leader who, like his wife, sits on the House Revenue and Taxation Committee - where all tax bills must originate.

Did the governor cut a deal with Moyle?

Who knows?

Otter certainly was nodding in his direction. - M.T.