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Senate State Affairs hears gubernatorial appointment of Rep. James Petzke to Endowment Fund board
Summary
The committee heard Representative James Petzke’s introduction as the governor’s nominee to the Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board; no confirmation vote was taken and the committee said it will consider the appointment at a future meeting.
Representative James Petzke, the governor’s nominee to the Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board, introduced himself to the Senate State Affairs Committee and described his qualifications on the board’s investment mission.
Petkze said he represents House District 21 in Meridian and has served in the Legislature for three years. “Investing and business are kind of my background,” he told the committee, adding that he holds a graduate degree in finance and runs several e-commerce businesses.
Petkze described the Endowment Fund Investment Board’s responsibilities at the hearing: managing the state’s permanent endowments and certain other public funds whose returns support public schools, higher education and state agencies. He said a central challenge the board faces is compensating and retaining investment professionals: “There is absolutely no way that we can compete on pay with the private sector,” he said, noting that public-sector pay constraints make hiring and retention difficult.
Senator Denhartauge asked whether legislative representation on the Endowment Fund Investment Board is required by statute. Petzke replied that statute provides for one senator and one representative to sit on the board and said current legislative members will be replaced by himself and Senator Woodward if confirmed.
Committee leadership did not take a confirmation vote at the hearing. Chairman Guthrie told Petzke the committee would consider the appointment at a future meeting and thanked him for appearing.
No formal action on the appointment was recorded during the hearing.
Looking ahead, committee members did not schedule a confirmation vote at the session’s close; the matter remains pending and will return to the committee’s agenda for further consideration.
