The big three
Reporter Betsy Z. Russell tracks the session’s top issues.
Education
The state Board of Education wants to require more math and science classes – and other tougher standards – before high school students can graduate. Community college expansion is a hot issue this year, with the Boise area pushing for its own campus. Education funding is the largest single piece of the state budget.
Where things stand: The House and Senate education committees voted overwhelmingly in favor of increased math and science requirements for high school graduation, proposed by the state Board of Education. Gov. Butch Otter, in his State of the State message, endorsed an interim committee’s plan to reduce the supermajority needed to form a community college district from two-thirds to 60 percent, if the vote comes in a general election. Otter also proposed a $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 keeping students from being priced out of college education. Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna proposed a 7 percent state funding increase for public schools next year, including new funding for school supplies and textbooks but just 3 percent raises for teachers. He also called for creating an Indian education office without adding new positions in his office.
Taxes
With the sales tax now at 6 percent – lawmakers raised it from 5 percent in a special session in August – attention has turned to the fact that Idaho is one of nine states that still fully taxes groceries. Many want to 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 his own targeted grocery tax credit, to mixed reviews from lawmakers. Otter’s credit would increase the current $20-a-person credit to as much as $90 for the poorest Idahoans, but the amount would be phased 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. Many lawmakers also are working on their own grocery tax proposals.
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 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 new nursing education buildings to address a nursing shortage, he didn’t recommend funding for more nursing instructors.