The big three
Staff writer Betsy Z. Russell is tracking the top issues of the session:
Education
The State Board of Education wants to require more math and science for Idaho high school students to graduate, along with other requirements. Community college expansion is a hot issue, with the Boise area pushing for its own campus. Tribal leaders are backing an effort to address Indian education statewide, and new state schools Superintendent Tom Luna has his own plans to promote accountability and innovation.
Where things stand: The increased math and science requirements got their first legislative airing in the Senate Education Committee. Gov. Butch Otter, in his State of the State message, endorsed an interim committee’s plan to lower the supermajority to form a new community college district; it would need 60 percent of votes to pass rather than two-thirds, provided the vote comes in a general election. He also called for a $5 million “carrot” to encourage the formation of a new community college district. The Idaho Indian Affairs Council sent a letter to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee’s co-chairs backing the creation and funding of an Indian education coordinator in the superintendent’s office. Otter also proposed a $38 million endowment to provide $2 million a year in needs-based scholarships to Idaho college students.
Taxes
With the sales tax at 6 percent – lawmakers raised it from 5 percent in a special session last August – attention has turned to the fact that Idaho is one of only nine states that tax grocery purchases. Many want to either repeal that tax or offset it with an enhanced tax credit. Business interests are pushing for a big tax break on personal property tax and hope to trim property tax relief granted to homeowners last year.
Where things stand: Otter proposed a targeted grocery tax credit to mixed reviews from lawmakers. Otter’s plan would increase the current $20-per-person credit to as much as $90 for the poorest Idahoans, but the amount would be prorated for those with higher incomes, with those earning more than 240 percent of the poverty level ($50,000 for a family of four) ineligible for 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. On property taxes, North Idaho lawmakers vowed to protect the increased homeowner’s exemption enacted last year.
Growth
Idaho’s growing population and changing economy have created pressure on everything from roads to prisons to water use.
Where things stand: Otter called for issuing $264 million in bonds for the next round of bonding for major highway projects, but said professionals, rather than politicians, should decide which projects are addressed. The state Transportation Department’s plan calls for the bonds to fund continued work on six projects begun in the first round of highway bonding last year, including upgrades to U.S. Highway 95, plus a seventh in the Twin Falls area. Lawmakers toured crowded state prisons and expressed concern over limited funding for cells and treatment.