Relief For Schools On Agenda Legislators Seek Way For State To Help Districts Build Schools

Key lawmakers say they want the Legislature to address Idaho’s school building problem this year.

“I am one who believes that the state has a role in helping finance public school buildings,” House Speaker Mike Simpson said Friday, “because it will help take that load off the property tax.”

Rep. Fred Tilman, R-Boise, chairman of the House Education Committee, said Friday that he plans to propose legislation to lower the two-thirds “supermajority” vote now required to pass a school bond. Tilman’s legislation, a bipartisan effort that he’ll co-sponsor with Rep. Donna Boe, D-Pocatello, would lower the margin needed to pass to 60 percent, if the election is scheduled on one of four regular election dates.

Idaho is the only state that both requires a difficult two-thirds majority to pass a school bond, and puts no state money into school buildings. That makes Idaho the toughest place in the nation to build a school, and it has left many North Idaho schoolchildren in overcrowded, double-shifted or deteriorating school buildings.

The full cost of building schools falls on the local property tax.

Tilman noted that lowering the super-majority has been proposed before, but hasn’t flown. The move requires changing Idaho’s constitution, so it needs a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and then a majority vote of the people.

But he said this year could be different.

The Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, the state’s most powerful business lobby, has voted to support lowering the requirement to 60 percent if the vote comes during a primary or general election. That’s not far off Tilman’s proposal, he noted.

“The whole issue really is how are we going to relieve the situation of many of the schools in the state,” he said.

Simpson, R-Blackfoot, has unsuccessfully proposed legislation in past years to match local school bond issues with state funds. He said some legislators believe it’s up to the state to provide the education, but up to local residents to provide the buildings. He estimated that lawmakers are divided 50-50 on that question.

“We have schools that are unsafe,” Simpson said. “It doesn’t seem like the Legislature has been real interested in it, but I think they’re becoming more interested … as the problem becomes more widespread.”

Simpson’s comments came during the taping of KTVB-TV’s “Viewpoint” program on Friday. The Legislature opens its 1998 session on Monday, with school buildings one of many issues on the agenda.

Tilman said a combination of a lower percentage needed for passage and some state funding might be just the ticket to help address Idaho’s school construction woes. “We’re just interested in trying to relieve the situation,” he said. “We’re looking at any and all types of options available to us.”

Also on Friday, Simpson:

Said proposed legislation allowing Idaho to set up publicly funded “charter schools” probably will cost the state more money in the long run, as additional schools are set up and existing schools still need to operate. But he said if the plan brings competition and innovation to the school system, the costs will be worth it.

Predicted failure for Sen. Jack Riggs’ legislation calling for a 1-cent gasoline tax hike and higher car registration fees to improve Highway 95 and three other routes. The eight-year program is being touted by the Coeur d’Alene Republican as a way to make Idaho’s only north-south route safe. But Simpson said Idaho just had a gasoline tax increase, and lawmakers aren’t likely to support another.

Said Idaho should invest in drug and alcohol treatment programs for criminals to reduce the chance that they’ll commit new crimes. Though expensive, such programs will pay off in the long run, Simpson said.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: TOUGH SELL Idaho is the only state that requires both a difficult two-thirds majority to pass a school bond, and puts no state money into school buildings.