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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Kill Two-Thirds Rule

D.F. Oliveria For The Editorial

Idaho Gov. Phil Batt finally has seen the light.

The Republican governor has dropped objections to helping schools win approval for bond elections - now that the school construction backlog has reached an estimated $740 million. Recently, he indicated he might recommend a change in the two-thirds supermajority needed for bond approval.

When he did, hallelujah choruses rang out from Post Falls to Dubois in southeastern Idaho. In Post Falls, two bond elections for a new high school failed last year despite receiving almost 63 percent of the vote. In Dubois, a week ago, a $3.4 million bond to replace an 83-year-old school building fell 50 votes short of the two-thirds barrier.

As a result, children are going to school in double shifts or in decaying buildings.

It’s past time to cut the supermajority to something sensible, like Washington’s 60 percent requirement. A bare minority of stingy taxpayers has held Idaho’s children hostage long enough.

Presently, Idaho not only requires the supermajority but fails to provide any state aid for school construction. No area better reflects the devastating results of this double whammy than North Idaho’s northernmost counties.

The problem is so severe in Bonner County that a school trustee sued his district and the state earlier this year, saying dilapidated buildings and ailing programs were hurting education. In Boundary County, the junior high has met for the past five years in a shoddy conglomeration of four portable buildings, dubbed the “albatross.” And two elementary gyms have been closed as unsafe.

Batt, of course, faces an uphill battle in persuading the Idaho Legislature to lower the supermajority.

Idaho lawmakers believe the two-thirds rule is one of the best property tax protections the state has. An attempt last year to reduce the supermajority failed to win a simple majority in the Senate, where the measure needed a two-thirds vote to pass.

Still, Batt proved he was a governor who won’t take no for an answer two years ago when he lobbied successfully for mandatory workers compensation coverage for farm hands. The southern Idaho farmers in the Legislature repeatedly had shot down similar bills previously.

In less than three years, Batt has compiled a remarkable record for human rights achievement and budget restraint. If he succeeds in lowering the supermajority, his legacy for wise leadership is assured.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria For the editorial board