Bill Seeks Solutions For School Buildings

The Idaho Senate wants a hard look at how to go about fixing Idaho’s ailing school buildings.

On a 29-6 vote, the Senate passed a resolution calling for an interim study committee on the issue. That’s a group of legislators assigned to hold hearings and meet with experts over the summer, with a goal of working up legislation for consideration next year.

All North Idaho senators voted in favor of the resolution, which was co-sponsored by Democratic Sen. Clint Stennett of Ketchum and Republican Sen. John Hansen of Idaho Falls.

Stennett noted that Idaho hasn’t yet had an interim legislative committee look into the issue. An earlier study was commissioned by the Legislature to quantify school building needs across the state and set them at $700 million.

Hansen said the state hasn’t been able to act on that study’s results, and it’s time to look for solutions.

Idaho is the only state that both requires a two-thirds vote to pass a school construction bond and puts no state money into school construction, leaving local property owners to foot the entire bill.

The resolution now goes to the House for consideration. Then, at the end of the legislative session, legislative leadership reviews the various competing proposals for interim study committees and picks out a handful to pursue.