Bedke praises Otter on funding for schools’ health insurance costs; differs with him on need for tax cuts
House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, had two immediate reactions to Gov. Butch Otter’s State of the State address today, one positive and one negative. The positive: He praised Otter for including a $15 million line item in the public school budget to cover health insurance inflation for public school and charter school employees. “I think that has been long overdue,” Bedke said. Up to now, schools have had to cover those cost increases from their discretionary funds, he noted. “That’s been hard to make all those ends meet. In every other budget, we recognize that that’s a reality.”
The negative: He differs with Otter on tax cuts, where Otter said a significant tax cut he’s proposing for Idaho employers on unemployment insurance taxes over the next three years is sufficient tax relief for lawmakers to grant in the coming year, Bedke wants more. “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.”
