Rep. Bob Nonini, chairman of the House Education Committee, says the panel likely will finish public testimony tomorrow on SB 1108 and SB 1110, then begin hearing from stakeholder groups and questioning the bill's sponsors. "I really don't see us wrapping this up tomorrow," he said. "I think it'll be Thursday by the time we can vote on it. ... I think we can push through this thing and have a vote by Thursday." Nonini said he wants to give everyone who came today but didn't get a chance to testify a chance to speak tomorrow. "I think there's credibility in us going through this process. ... I think we need to let 'em have their say, whether it changes our mind or not."

Asked whether anything he heard today - with the testimony running nearly 6-1 against the bills - changed his mind, Nonini replied, "Nothing." He was a supporter of the bills going into the hearing. Several people testified today that Idahoans are overwhelmingly against the plan, so lawmakers shouldn't enact it. Nonini responded that he attended a "town hall meeting" in his North Idaho district where about 60 people attended, and they were "8 to 9 to 1 in favor of the plan. So I guess it depends on the setting. ... When we go out in our own communities we see a lot different mix." Asked afterward about that meeting, Nonini said it was sponsored by the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans, the Panhandle Pachyderms, and the North Idaho Pachyderms, all Republican clubs. "I discount the 8-1 here as well as I discount the 8-1 that was in Post Falls last Saturday put on by the Republican clubs," he said. "It's somewhere in the middle."