Eye on Boise: Idaho state budget building toward surplus

BOISE – Idaho lawmakers have been budgeting so conservatively for state programs and services that the state is on track to end the current fiscal year on June 30 with a $108 million surplus.

If the state sees moderate revenue growth in the coming year of 4.5 percent, it could cover base budget requests – plus a 7.5 percent increase – and run up an end-of-the-year surplus of $150 million, according to figures presented to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this week.

What’s not included in that scenario are potential big costs that legislative budget-writers also are watching for: millions for firefighting, a funding shortfall at Idaho’s courts, raises for state employees whose pay has long fallen far below market rates, several pricey computer system upgrades, future costs to continue phasing in a teacher career ladder pay system, expenses to fix Idaho’s public defense system, investments in water projects and changes in the state’s tax system.

Members of the joint committee just wrapped up their fall interim meeting, which included touring locations in eastern Idaho such as the Triumph Mine, State Hospital South and the Dubois U.S. Sheep Experiment Station. They discussed funding issues with a small, rural school district. They visited the Rock Creek Ranch, which Idaho Fish and Game wants to purchase; the joint committee supported that move last year, but it died by one vote in the House after passing the Senate 31-3. They toured the state’s first tele-pharmacy at Idaho State University. They also heard presentations on funding and budget issues that they’ll need to address when the Legislature convenes in January.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, co-chairwoman of the joint committee, said the interim meetings let members “see where the impacts of our decisions are on the ground.”

The update on the state’s general fund budget, presented to the joint committee by legislative budget director Cathy Holland-Smith, was received as good news.

“Having been through the Great Recession, certainly the numbers are looking a lot better than they have,” Keough said. “It’s good to be in a good place.” At the same time, she noted that some parts of the state “aren’t doing as well.”

Rep. Robert Anderst, R-Nampa, a member of the Legislature’s Tax Working Group, recently asked state budget analysts to look at how Idaho’s state and local government spending on programs and services compares to other states, and it yielded a surprising result: Idaho ranked dead last in per-capita spending, by a long shot.

Two steps back on SBAC

Idaho’s state Board of Education, meeting Wednesday in Lewiston, voted unanimously to take two steps back in the implementation of new standardized tests for students, at the urging of state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra.

The board’s vote means ninth-graders won’t be required to take the Idaho Standards Achievement Test this spring, though districts have the option of administering the test. This year’s 10th-graders, though they’ll take the test, won’t have passage as a high school graduation requirement. It marks the third year the state has waived the ninth-grade testing requirement and the second year that it’s put off making the new Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test a graduation requirement for 10th-graders.

“It was clear that we needed to take a step back and provide some relief for local school districts,” Ybarra said after the vote. “I support the minimum testing requirements,” which require testing in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. But, she said, “It is too soon to make the new summative assessment a high-stakes assessment for students in 10th grade. We also wanted to provide the ninth-grade assessment as an option to school districts throughout the state and allow their local leadership the flexibility to exercise local control in the best interest of our students.”

State board members said the test is new enough that it makes sense to wait another year before making it a graduation requirement. Tenth-graders still will be required to take the test this spring, which is aligned to Idaho’s version of Common Core standards in English and math.

“It is very important to the Board that we have a test for accountability purposes that provides an accurate assessment of how well our students are learning in Idaho,” said Don Soltman, state board president. “The board will continue to review our state’s requirements regarding the ISAT and student performance in our future meetings.”

Current state requirements call for both ninth- and 10th-graders to be tested, and for 10th-graders to pass the test before they graduate from high school; that’s what the board waived.

Firefighting costs mount

Idaho may try to bill the negligent parties responsible for starting three costly and destructive wildfires that burned this year, including the Cape Horn fire near Bayview, the Municipal fire in north-central Idaho and the Walker fire east of Boise. Each of the three fires cost the state millions in firefighting costs.

This year’s fire season has cost the state nearly $73 million so far, according to state Forester David Groeschl, with reimbursables from other agencies at $17.9 million, for a net obligation to the state of about $55 million. The season started early, in March, and has stretched far into the fall. Current long-range forecasts are calling for similar conditions next year, Groeschl said, with unusually dry conditions in North Idaho forests.

Betsy Z. Russell covers Idaho news on the Eye on Boise blog at www.spokesman.com. She can be reached at (208) 336-2854 or by email to betsyr@spokesman.com.