BOISE -- Just in time for the upcoming Idaho legislative session, the Idaho Freedom Foundation and Citizens Against Government Waste have released their 2010 Idaho Pork Report.

"So we're here to tell you waste and excess do exist in state government," said Wayne Hoffman, with the Idaho Freedom Foundation.

"The porkiest plan of all", according to the two groups, is the formula for paying teachers in Idaho which they claim rewards mediocre teachers the same as excellent ones.

The groups also claim excessive pay for the state's top employees, saying almost 300 hundred employees earn more than Gov. Butch Otter.

And they say the state wastes money funding art projects like a poetry reading by Benny The Drunken Poet laced with profanity.

The groups question why the City of Boise is spending thousands of dollars to paint traffic boxes in a recession.

"And I would argue each household on a monthly basis does its own pork report, looking to where it can cut out waste," said David Williams with Citizens against Government Waste.

Michael Zuzel, spokesman for the City of Boise, says studies show an attractive downtown pays for itself again and again. And he says says a lot of national data shows that public art projects cut down on graffiti.

"Those utility boxes were a main target for taggers, which was one reason the art project was approved," he said in an e-mail.

Michael Faison, Executive Director for the Idaho Commission On The Arts, says the two groups have got their facts wrong. No taxpayer dollars were used to fund that Neurolux performance by so-called Benny The Drunken Poet.

(But Hoffman says he's not mistaken, and state money given to Big Tree Arts for poetry "slams" was used to fund vulgar performances.)

Idaho Senate President Pro Tem Bob Geddes says lawmakers are open to all suggestions.

"I think there are opportunities to find more efficiencies and more savings," Sen. Geddes said. "The low hanging fruit has been picked."

And the question facing legislators this session is: what new fruit is ripe for the picking?

The 2010 Pork Report is available on line at www.idahofreedom.net