The big three

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 this year, with the Boise area pushing for its own campus. Education funding is the largest piece of the state budget, and lawmakers have more say over funding levels now that they’ve shifted basic school operational funding from the property tax to the state budget.

Where things stand: Lawmakers set a budget for public schools for next year of $1.37 billion in state general funds, a 5.9 percent increase over this year’s budget. That’s more than the 5.5 percent increase Gov. Butch Otter recommended and less than the 7 percent increase to $1`.38 billion that state Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna had sought. Yet Luna was happy, saying he got “99.9 percent” of what he wanted.

That’s because the forecast of the number of students who will show up at Idaho’s public schools next year has been lowered by 50 support units, or 50 classrooms worth of students. That means the same money will go a little further, assuming that projection is correct. The school budget includes 3 percent more for teacher pay, though other state employees are getting 5 percent for merit raises. For community colleges, legislative budget writers approved a 6.9 percent increase in state funding, and for the state’s four-year colleges and universities, 8.4 percent.

Taxes

With the sales tax 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 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 give a big credit to low-income Idahoans, but lawmakers on the House’s tax committee rejected it in favor of a pricier proposal from Rep. Cliff Bayer, R-Boise, to raise the credit for everyone. That measure passed the House, 62-7, but ran into trouble in the Senate tax committee, which decided to put the bill up for amendment. The measure would raise the current $20 annual credit to $50, and for seniors, the credit would rise from $35 to $70. The cost of the proposal – $47.5 million in lost sales tax revenue – is raising concerns. Meanwhile, the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry is pushing hard for phasing out a large property tax on business equipment, which eventually would grant businesses an annual tax break of more than $100 million.

Growth

Idaho’s growing population and changing economy have created pressure on everything from roads to prisons to water use.

Where things stand: The Senate passed legislation to raise the maximum sentence for shooting at an occupied house from five years in prison to 15 years. Lawmakers heard that Idaho’s transportation costs have been skyrocketing, but the revenue source that pays for transportation in Idaho – the 25-cents-a-gallon state gas tax – has been relatively flat for more than a decade. A House committee introduced legislation to allow large retail projects, like Cabela’s in Post Falls, to finance major road improvements like freeway interchanges, then get paid back from the sales taxes they collect. 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.