Durst asks to be excused from voting on school budget; permission denied

Sen. Branden Durst, D-Boise, asked unanimous consent of the Senate to be excused from voting on HB 323, the public school budget, saying he has a conflict of interest because his family would get “a direct pecuniary benefit” from the budget bill. There was an objection, however, from Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, and he was not excused; he will be required to vote.

Durst said his wife is a teacher and will get a pay increase under the budget bill. “To not excuse yourself when a direct financial benefit is certain is to corrupt the process and undermined the public trust, in my opinion,” Durst said in a tweet.