The big three
Education
The state Board of Education wants to require more math and science classes – and impose other tougher standards – for high school students to graduate. Community college expansion is a hot issue, with the Boise area pushing for its own campus. Education funding is the largest single piece of the state budget, and lawmakers have more say over funding levels now that they’ve shifted schools’ basic operational funding from the property tax to the state budget.
Where things stand: The House and Senate education committees voted overwhelmingly in favor of more stringent math and science requirements for high school graduation, proposed by the state Board of Education. The House Education Committee has introduced legislation to lower the supermajority required to form a new community college district from two-thirds to 60 percent, but only if the vote comes in a general election. Gov. Butch Otter proposed a new $38 million endowment to provide $2 million a year in needs-based scholarships to Idaho college students, and North Idaho College President Michael Burke said more student aid is crucial to keep students from being priced out of a college education. Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna proposed a 7 percent state funding increase for public schools next year.
Taxes
With the sales tax now at 6 percent, attention has turned to the fact that Idaho is one of only nine states that fully taxes groceries. Many want to either repeal that tax or offset it with an enhanced grocery tax credit. Business interests are pushing for a big tax break on the personal property tax and are hoping to trim back property tax relief granted to homeowners last year.
Where things stand: Otter proposed a targeted grocery tax credit to mixed reviews from lawmakers; now it’s one of four bills up for a hearing in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. Otter’s credit would raise the current $20-a-person credit to as much as $90 for the poorest Idahoans, but the amount would phase down for those with higher incomes, with those earning more than 240 percent of the poverty level ($50,000 for a family of four) no longer receiving any credit. Anyone who had received food stamps would be ineligible for the credit for the months they received that benefit. Under Otter’s plan, a fifth of the state’s population would get the full $90. Alternate proposals would raise the grocery tax credit for everyone; phase out the sales tax on groceries over four years; or eliminate half the sales tax on groceries immediately.
Growth
Idaho’s growing population and changing economy have created pressure on the infrastructure.
Where things stand: Otter called for issuing $264 million in bonds for the next round of bonding for major highway projects around the state, but he said professionals, rather than politicians, should decide which projects are addressed. Legislative budget writers learned that caseload growth has slowed in the fast-growing Medicaid program, which provides health insurance for the poor and people with disabilities, primarily because of a strong economy. But they also learned that while Otter proposed funding two nursing education buildings to address a nursing shortage, he didn’t recommend funding for more nursing instructors. He also proposed a semi-permanent “sprung” structure to house prison inmates, but no new guards, and opposed three new state liquor stores as an expansion of state government. The new state police director said Idaho needs more troopers on the roads.