Top Issues For Lawmakers

School buildings

Another year has gone by without significant action on this issue, and now legislators from all over the state are saying it’s time to do something about crumbling and crowded schools. The Idaho Supreme Court ruled last month that the state Constitution makes the Legislature responsible for ensuring that Idaho’s school kids have safe schools, and the state Board of Education is pushing for an emergency program to address safety problems. Rep. Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley, the new House speaker, says the huge tobacco settlement may be the money that finally allows Idaho to begin addressing school construction, which is now left entirely to local property taxpayers.

Reading

Both a legislative committee and incoming Gov. Dirk Kempthorne are calling for legislation guaranteeing that every child can read by the third grade. New research suggests that if kids don’t learn to read by then, they’re more likely to be lifelong failures, dropping out of school and possibly ending up in prison. But early proposals carried price tags of $6 million a year or more, and stepped on the toes of local school districts that already have started reading programs. New state schools Superintendent Marilyn Howard, a former kindergarten teacher who’s done ground-breaking research on early reading problems, could be a key player on this issue.

Sales tax distribution

Post Falls Rep. Hilde Kellogg headed a legislative committee that worked over the summer to develop a way to change how the sales-tax pie is sliced up. The result calls for changes so incremental they’ll take years to have much effect. But they start a move away from outdated formulas that cut fast-growing areas - like Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls - out of the money they generate, giving it instead to places that haven’t grown much since 1965.

Fish and Game fees

Idaho’s Fish and Game Department is going broke. Fewer people hunt and fish, and it costs more to manage wildlife. The department wants two things: significant increases in license fees, and a first-ever infusion of state general funds. It argues that its programs to manage nongame wildlife should be funded by someone other than just hunters and anglers. But a poor hunting season this year along with worry over the rise of animal rights groups have left hunters angry - and in no mood for compromise. Sandpoint Rep. John Campbell says it seems Fish and Game is becoming an arm of the federal government with its endangered species agenda, and the proposals have “virtually no chance.”

Liquor law reform

Three North Idaho legislators are spearheading a package of reforms, from allowing liquor sales on Election Day, to letting port, sherry and other dessert wines join wine and beer in grocery stores (they’re now just in state liquor stores). The biggest change would set up a county liquor license system, eliminating the current system that requires a special law to be passed for any liquor license outside city limits. Typically, eastern Idaho interests oppose loosening rules on liquor distribution.

Abortion

During his campaign, Kempthorne said he’d like to sign legislation requiring parental consent for minors’ abortions. That was the stated aim last year of a bill that dominated the end of the legislative session, forcing marathon negotiations and resulting in a veto. Dennis Mansfield of the Idaho Family Forum, heartened by Kempthorne’s campaign statements, has said he plans to re-introduce the bill this year. One possible obstacle: New Senate State Affairs Committee Chairwoman Sheila Sorensen, an abortion rights supporter who asked last month, “Why would we want to go through that again?”

Governor’s mansion

After former Gov. Phil Batt was threatened briefly with homelessness at the end of his term, it became clear that the plan to buy Batt’s house to meet the state’s obligation to house the governor didn’t work. Batt wasn’t able to buy the house back as he left office because of state property sale rules and because a Land Board member - like the governor - can’t contract with the state. He ended up moving. The state has land for a governor’s mansion, $1 million sitting in an account to build it, and plans drawn up. All it needs to move ahead is a governor who agrees to live in it.