The House has convened, and is taking up HB 328, the budget bill for the state Department of Administration. Meanwhile, Rep. Janet Trujillo, R-Idaho Falls, was presenting HB 334 to the Senate Transportation Committee. She said the bill just adds “children pedestrian safety on the state and local system” to the law about spending funds from the surplus eliminator. Trujillo said lawmakers committed to provide for safe routes to school in the negotiations over HB 312 two years ago, but didn’t fund them. This language, she said, would just give the Idaho Transportation Department and local highway districts the ability to fund sidewalk projects if needed.

Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, asked about SB 1121, a safe routes to school bill that earlier passed the Senate. Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, said, “It provided a bucket, but no funding, and to date it has not been given a hearing on the House side. … So this is a way to address our support for safe routes to school. I think it’s a good bill.”

Sen. Marv Hagedorn moved to send the bill to the full Senate with a recommendation that it “do pass,” and Winder seconded the motion.

Winder said, “As we were trying to deal with managing  1206 once it got to the House, it was our position that it should not be amended in any way. This was one of the things they wanted to actually amend 1206 with. We were fearful that if it got amended we might lose some of the votes we had over here. So we were able to work with the House leadership and get them to not amend 1206, and I think that’s one of the reasons we’re going to be able to go home today.”

The committee then approved Hagedorn’s motion on a unanimous voice vote, and adjourned.