The debate was shorter and the vote much more one-sided as the House passed two large “maintenance” budgets for education.
One bill provides nearly $3.1 billion for K-12. The second, $1.1 billion omnibus funds higher education and other institutions under the authority of the State Board of Education.
Friday's vote also capped a heated and historic week in the House. On Wednesday, the deeply divided House narrowly passed the first of 10 maintenance budgets in a vote that divided Republican ranks and constituted an open attempt to challenge House leadership. On Thursday, House Republicans voted to oust Majority Leader Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, for voting against the maintenance budget bill.
Turbulent events and a rare vote to demote a legislative leader rocked Friday's education budget vote.
“I think we’ve seen the wind and direction for these budgets,” Rep. Matt Bundy, R-Mountain Home, said as he opened debate on the state board’s maintenance budget. Bundy was one of six members of the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee who voted against the court maintenance budget the House passed Wednesday.
“We are asked to trust the process. And they are doing so out of fear,” House Education Committee Chairwoman Julie Yamamoto, R-Caldwell, said in a speech supporting the state committee’s budget.
“I’m willing to start the healing, but it’s not going to start in the schools,” said Rep. Greg Lanting, R-Twin Falls, before voting against the K-12 maintenance budget.
Both education budgets passed the House easily. The state board budget passed 56-11 on a party-line vote. The K-12 budget passed 53-14, with Reps. Blanksma, Lanting, and Rep. Jerald Raymond, R-Menan, joining 11 Democrats in the House in opposition. By comparison, the budget for maintaining the court system was squeaky clean by a 38-31 vote as of Wednesday.
Nonetheless, Friday's debate focused on repeated concerns raised on Wednesday. House leaders have said next year's maintenance budget essentially gives state agencies the funding they received this year, but opponents are skeptical. They do not believe the budget will adequately fund ongoing operations and are not confident they will get a chance to vote on a follow-up budget that would fund line items and new programs.
In the K-12 budget debate, Republicans and Democrats noted that the maintenance budget does not fund movement up the teacher career ladder. The pay increase is what educators get by adjusting their salary schedule upwards.
“If this were my impression, I would be very disturbed,” said Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, who ultimately voted in favor of the bill.
In response to questions from McCann and other lawmakers, JFAC co-chair Wendy Horman said career ladder money is coming. “It will be included in future budgets,” said Horman, R-Idaho Falls.
Assemblyman Steve Berch was not convinced, noting that Congress has never funded a state government starting with a maintenance budget.
“I can’t believe this is a process that has never existed before and has such a huge impact,” said Berch, D-Boise.
The budget bill passed by the House now goes to the Senate.
The Senate also works on the maintenance budget.
The Senate approved budgets for the constitutional office, health and human services and natural resources in a series of party-line votes Friday, effectively approving JFAC leaders' sustained budget process.
Senate Democrats, like their House colleagues, were skeptical that additional agency spending requests would ever return to the Senate. Sen. Ali Rabe, D-Boise, said. “I continue to be concerned about our lack of understanding of what these maintenance budgets are.
The bill now moves to the House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives has passed a bill to opt out of vaccination registration.
The House passed a bill Friday that would require parents to opt in to the state's vaccination registry.
Currently, parents must opt out of the Immunization Reminder Information System.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, said IRIS enrollment would not affect Idaho's childhood immunization rates, which are among the lowest in the nation. She said House Bill 397 would simply make the choice easier for parents.
“If the government wants to collect your data, they will be happy to do so if you choose the system,” she said.
Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, said the bill would place the burden on health care providers to track two sets of children: those enrolled in IRIS and those outside the system.
After the House voted 56-11 on a party-line vote, the bill moves on to the Senate.
Diversity statement bill heads to Senate
A bill that would ban campus diversity declarations is heading to the Senate.
Senate Bill 1274 codifies the State Board of Education policy passed last year that addresses hiring procedures. The bill would extend the ban on diversity statements to admissions.
Sen. Treg Bernt, R-Meridian, a co-sponsor of the bill, said he wants colleges to be able to make decisions focused on the merits. “It takes the focus away from identifying politics.”
Many of the questions came from two committee members who have worked in higher education: Sen. Abby Lee, R-Fruitland, and Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise. Lee wondered if employers could ask applicants how they would work with veterans or other student groups. Wintrow wondered if all questions about inclusion were off limits.
“In my experience, we always interview people based on merit,” she said.
Bernt said he was not qualified to give legal advice. But he suggested that as long as its courses focus on strengths, the university will remain on solid footing.
The Senate State Affairs Committee decided to send the bill to the Senate, with Wintrow voting no. A vote could take place in the next few days.
The new law expands harassment reporting requirements.
A new bipartisan bill would direct public school administrators to notify parents when their child is the perpetrator or victim of a bullying incident.
The proposal, introduced Friday, would strengthen public school bullying and harassment reporting requirements, which are lacking, according to co-sponsor Rep. Chris Mathias. The Boise Democrat said cases of bullying go unreported in most school districts, including the largest schools.
“It doesn’t matter whether this is true or not,” Mathias told the House Education Committee. “The important thing is to find ways to make these reports more meaningful and impactful.”
Current Idaho law directs school districts to “make reasonable efforts” to share harassment, intimidation and bullying data with school staff and parents.
The bill adds a requirement for principals to notify parents, either as victims or perpetrators, when their child is involved in a bullying incident. Principals should also provide parents with information about suicide prevention and limit students' access to tools that could harm themselves or others.
“There is a very strong connection between bullying, intimidation, children being bullied and youth suicide and school shootings,” Mathias said.
Republican Reps. Dan Garner of Clifton and Greg Lanting of Twin Falls are co-sponsors of the bill. representative. Soñia Galaviz, D-Boise, is also a co-sponsor.
The school board unanimously voted to advance the bill, which could go to a public hearing in the coming days or weeks.
Digital Learning Academy Official Reform Passes House
The House of Representatives on Friday quickly and almost unanimously approved three education bills, including one that would simplify the funding formula for the Idaho Digital Learning Academy.
House Bill 452 IDLA would provide $430 for every class a student takes, which the Legislature's budget committee could change annually as teacher salaries change.
The current formula is a “complicated calculation,” said Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian. The forum hinges on the broader K-12 school system budget and includes metrics on transportation and facilities.
“Of course, Idaho Digital Learning Academy doesn’t have those things, so it doesn’t make sense to tie IDLA’s funding to how we fund other schools,” Petzke told the House.
Only one lawmaker (Rep. Elaine Price, R-Coeur d'Alene) opposed the bill. Now it heads to the Senate.
House approves raising CTE scholarship limits
The House also approved legislation that would give high school students more options for spending their Advanced Opportunity Funds.
House Bill 454 lifts the $500 per class cap by allowing students to spend up to $1,000 per year on career technical education courses. Bill sponsor Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, said this would provide more flexibility and estimates that 50 to 150 students would take advantage of it.
McCann told the House that the high end of the estimate would be about $75,000. “It’s a really difficult decision to make because there’s always the possibility that students who were included in last year’s budget won’t take the course,” she said.
The House unanimously approved the bill and decided to send it to the Senate.
The bill allows debit/credit cards for activity purposes.
The House unanimously advanced legislation that would allow school districts to use debit or credit cards for activity fees.
Current law only allows paper checks.
“It really hinders our ability to buy pizza for our student body or buy supplies for a STEM night,” said Rep. Soñia Galaviz, D-Boise, a sponsor of the bill.