At first blush, it certainly seems that with only 8 months in office and no legislative session, the upcoming Risch Administration might not make much of a mark legislatively, despite Gov. Jim Risch’s long history as one of the state’s most skilled state senators and Senate leaders. But there is that pesky school lawsuit that’s been going for the past decade and a half, in which the Idaho Supreme Court has retained jurisdiction and ordered the Legislature to fix an unconstitutional system that relies almost entirely on local property taxes to fund school construction. What if the bill that’s moving through now – to offer $25 million in state loans to replace unsafe schools only if the state takes over the school district, sends in a supervisor who could fire the superintendent, and imposes no-vote property tax increases to pay back the loans on local patrons who’ve already voted against them twice – doesn’t satisfy the court? Then Gov. Risch might have to call a special session of the Legislature to come up with a better school-funding system. And no doubt, he would…

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