Sunday column: The $27.5M for roads missing from Otter’s budget; pre-K support; soliciting law…

When lawmakers started delving into the budget proposal that Gov. Butch Otter has made for next year, they got a surprise: Though they passed a bill last year to split a $55 million year-end surplus between the state’s rainy-day fund and roadwork, only the rainy-day fund transfer was made. Due to a drafting error in the bill, Senate Bill 1206 , the transfer to the Idaho Transportation Department’s Strategic Initiatives Fund didn’t happen, and Otter didn’t include it in his budget plan. My Sunday column this week reports on that issue; along with the new poll finding strong support among Idahoans for state-funded pre-K; and House Assistant Majority Leader Brent Crane’s proposal to make first-time offenses of soliciting prostitution a felony in Idaho. You can read my full column here at spokesman.com.