Idaho Gov. Butch Otter put his focus squarely on education Monday as he kicked off the legislative session with an address to a joint session of the House and Senate – bitterly disappointing many House Republicans by ruling out big new tax cuts. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

Otter said he’s “as committed as ever” to limiting the size and growth of Idaho’s state government. But, he said, “I will not entertain anything that undermines our commitment to meeting the essential state government functions, and at the top of that list is our investments in improving education and career readiness in Idaho.” Lawmakers responded with applause.

But after the speech, House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said he disagreed with Otter that a proposed cut in unemployment insurance taxes – which would save Idaho employers $46 million next year and $115 million, is sufficient tax relief for lawmakers to consider this year.

“I appreciate that that’s a large tax reduction to businesses in Idaho,” Bedke said. “I, however, feel like we can do a little better than that, and I expect there will be legislation that will support that belief coming out of the House.”

He added, “There’ll be give and take – we will certainly discuss this.”

Otter outlined a proposed budget for the coming year that would increase state general fund spending by 5.87 percent next year to $3.465 billion. That still would leave unspent $68 million, according to the latest state revenue forecasts. The governor called for 3 percent merit-based raises for state employees; a 6.4 percent increase in public school funding; a smaller 2.2 percent hike for the state’s public universities coupled with a one-time $35 million boost in campus construction; and a 6.4 percent increase for community colleges. Overall, 63 percent of Otter’s proposed fiscal year 2018 budget would go to education, including both K-12 and higher education.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, co-chair of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, said she agreed with Otter. “Certainly, constituents at home are interested in paying less taxes,” Keough said. “But they are also consistently telling me they believe the state ought to be fully funding its mandate of a public school system, and that the continual ask for ‘supplemental levies’ for basic operations of the schools is something the state ought to be picking up. And that’s just one place where constituents tell me consistently that they believe the state is falling down in its responsibilities financially and that those things are priorities before tax cuts.”

Still, she predicted that that tradeoff will be “one of the main issues that dominates the session.”