The Senate just suspended its rules – a rare move at this point in the session, but common later on – to immediately take up HB 385, a bill from the State Board of Education to address a situation in the Salmon School District. There, a rarely used state emergency loan fund was tapped to repair the roof of a middle school. But Sen. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, the bill’s floor sponsor, said, with declining enrollment, “Rather than spend $1.9 million on fixing this roof, the trustees came back and said, ‘Why don’t we shut down the middle school? We don’t want to spend money on something that doesn’t get us where we really want to go.’”

State law regarding the emergency loan fund – which local property taxpayers have to pay back – didn’t allow for changing the project after the grant was approved. That’s what HB 385 would allow. Senate Education Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, said, “The reason for the urgency is this construction is under way right now, so they’re going to have to change the construction plan, and it needs to be done in a timely manner to not waste additional money.” Thayn noted, “The bill does state that any money that has been expended, the locals have to pay.” The bill passed on a 31-2 vote; it earlier passed the House 60-8, and now heads to the governor’s desk.