Asked what he thinks about House Education Chairman Bob Nonini's scholarship tax credit bill bypassing the House Rev & Tax Committee, instead coming through Education, House Tax Chairman Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, said, "I think it stinks."

Asked if the bill would have passed in Rev & Tax, Lake said, "Who knows? I'm not going to speak for the committee, but at least we ought to have a chance to take a look at it and see how it fit in with all the other tax credits we do, and we do a lot of 'em." He noted that the panel hasn't done any this big in some time.

Nonini's bill would give $10 million a year in tax credits for donations to scholarships for K-12 kids to attend private schools; he contends it would save the state money by leaving fewer kids for the state to educate in public schools. The House is still at ease and milling around.