The Senate has voted 25-10 in favor of SB 1279, the governor’s Opportunity Scholarship bill, which allows up to 20 percent of scholarships to go to “adult completers” returning to college to finish their degrees.  “At the end of the day, if we’re going to help the Idaho economy and fill these jobs that the employers are screaming for, we need an educated workforce,” Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, told the Senate. “And how best to get to that 25-to-34-year-old group than by setting aside up to 20 percent of the funding that might come … so that if it comes, we’re able to take advantage of that?”

Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, said, “We’re struggling with our workforce now. … We need to offer the same incentive that we do for high school students to go on. We need to offer those adults the ability to better their lot in life, and what a great example for their children.”

The bill now moves to the House side. This morning, JFAC approved a $3.5 million increase in the Opportunity Scholarship fund in next year’s budget, bringing it up to $13.5 million a year; Gov. Butch Otter had sought a $5 million boost.