The Idaho House has voted 63-4 to let school districts, for a fourth straight year, shift funds that the state requires districts to put toward school building maintenance into other non-personnel needs in the district. Rep. Mack Shirley, R-Rexburg, said the state budget for public schools is still below its fiscal year 2009 level, and districts want that flexibility; the state Department of Education requested the bill, HB 672. House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said, “I guess I have some concern, having worked on the school facilities lawsuit for much of my legislative life.” He questioned whether a fourth-year shift of the funds would hurt the state's legal position in the case; Shirley said the department thinks a requirement for annual school-building safety inspections will ensure schoolhouses are safe.

Rep. Brian Cronin, D-Boise, said “I will be voting yes on this bill, but reluctantly. …  We are once again talking about deferred maintenance, and we are enabling deferred maintenance of our school facilities through this bill. Now I understand why we're doing it, and I know the school districts have asked for this flexibility. ... But we should be mindful of … how much money is not being set aside over these last three years because we are essentially allowing this waiver.” It's $20 million a year from the state, and $40 million a year from the districts, he said. “At $60 million a year for three years, that's $180 million that has potentially not been set aside to maintain our school facilities. … The fact is, when we continue to defer these maintenance expenses, the bills will eventually come due, and those safety inspections will not pass at some point. … We're simply again kicking the can down the road.”

HB 672 now moves to the Senate side; it would waive the maintenance funding requirement through fiscal year 2013.