Idaho lawmakers back higher-ed building plan

BOISE – Gov. Butch Otter’s proposal for a $35 million higher-ed construction program next year won unanimous approval from the Idaho Legislature’s joint budget committee Thursday.

The plan includes $10 million for a Center for Materials Science at Boise State University; $10 million for the University of Idaho to build the Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment in the Magic Valley; $10 million for Lewis-Clark State College to build a Career-Technical Education building; and $5 million to complete the remodeling of the Gale Life Sciences Building at Idaho State University.

Also included in the capital budget that lawmakers set Thursday was $10.3 million for a “psychiatric hospital transformation” program that Otter proposed, including construction of a new 16-bed State Hospital West in the Treasure Valley, to house adolescents; and conversion of the current adolescent unit at State Hospital South in Blackfoot into a high-risk, 20-bed secure psychiatric unit for adults.