Sen. Kelly: ‘It’s a sad day today’

Sen. Kate Kelly, D-Boise, the Senate minority leader who is retiring after this year’s session, debating against SB 1418, the public school budget bill, told the Senate, “I think that this bill before us comes perilously close to abdicating our constitutional obligation towards the school children of Idaho. … We cannot pretend that this budget won’t hurt student performance - it will. This budget will hurt Idaho’s schoolchildren. It’s a sad day today.”

Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, responded, “We’re in the greatest financial crisis that we’ve ever experienced in a lifetime, any of us. Things are bad.” He said, “We’re here complaining about a 7.5 percent budget cut when all agencies have taken much greater. … We have done everything we can to protect education.” He said, “I feel bad that we can’t do more, but I don’t feel bad that we haven’t done enough, because we have worked hard to get this budget where it is.”