Sen. Melinda Smyser, R-Parma, pointed to reporters, lawmakers and audience members who are using laptop computers and other high-tech devices to send tweets, emails and more, even as the debate proceeds.  "Technology, whether we like it or not, it is the way of the world," she said. "I'm an educator. I'm excited about the changes." She said the "only way this bill is not going to work is if all the stakeholders don't get together" and make it work.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, debated against the bill. "For me this bill still contains unfunded mandates or mandates that are funded, as was mentioned earlier, from one side of the pocket to the other side of the pocket." Keough, who is the Senate's JFAC vice-chair, said, "The language of the bill does lock in formulas, and in those formulas it takes money off the top ... and it does so automatically."

Keough said, "I am not opposed to technology. It's about how that technology is being integrated." That varies around the state, she said. "There are places in Idaho that do not have high-speed Internet, and quite frankly, their telephone signal isn't all that good either."

She asked, "If teachers are laid off to buy laptops, which is what this bill does, who will be in the classroom with them?" The "fractional ADA" formula in the bill, she said, "takes away what are already scarce resources at the local level and gives them away to online course providers."