First school reform bill introduced on party-line vote

The first bill for Supt. Tom Luna’s school reform plan has been introduced on a straight party-line vote, with the two minority Democrats on the Senate Education Committee, Sens. Edgar Malepeai of Pocatello and Nicole LeFavour of Boise, voting no. Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, made the motion to introduce the bill, cutting off a series of questions from senators on the committee about various provisions in the bill, particularly those limiting collective bargaining. “With possible legislation of this magnitude, I can imagine a lot of things,” Fulcher said. “We’re going to have a tremendous amount of debate, tremendous amount of discussion. There’s going to be alternatives put on the table. The one thing I can’t imagine is not having the debate at all.” He then moved to introduce the bill. The motion carried, 6-2.