JFAC starts week of education budget hearings…

Hearings on education budgets are scheduled in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this week, starting off with higher ed: ISU is up Monday from 8-9 a.m.; BSU from 9-10 and LCSC from 10:10 to 11 a.m. Then Tuesday morning will bring budget hearings for the state’s community colleges and health education programs; the University of Idaho is up on Wednesday; and public schools are up on Thursday. The week of education budget hearings wraps up Friday morning with the Office of the State Board of Education, Idaho Public Television and the Division of Professional-Technical Education.

As the education funding talks start, Idaho Statesman columnist Dan Popkey shines a light on a rift between state school Supt. Tom Luna and Gov. Butch Otter over school funding in light of the “Students Come First” school reforms; you can read his full column here from Friday. Last week’s budget hearings focused on health and human services budgets; some of the highlights are in my Sunday column here . JFAC’s budget hearing schedule also calls for a “listening hearing” for budget writers to hear from the public on next year’s state budget; it’s set for Friday Feb. 3rd from 8-10:30 a.m. in the Capitol Auditorium. If JFAC sticks to its schedule, the joint committee will complete budget-setting for next year by March 9.