Though support is growing in Idaho to join the ranks of states that include early-childhood education in their public education systems, many Idaho lawmakers remain philosophically opposed to state-supported pre-school. “Anything that is bringing institutional education to younger children is problematic to me,” said state…
Here's a news item from the AP and the Idaho Press-Tribune: NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's farmers and ranchers saw record cash receipts in 2013, for the fourth consecutive year. A report from the University of Idaho says cash receipts were projected at $7.82 billion…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on an alternative state budget that was released today, suggesting that Idaho could spend tens of millions more on its public schools, grant raises to teachers and state workers restore cuts to services to poor disabled…
The co-chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee both say they’d be glad to have their budget analysts review the proposed alternative budget unveiled today by a coalition including former state chief economist Mike Ferguson and former state schools superintendents Jerry Evans and Marilyn Howard. After…
Senate Education Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, is intrigued by the alternative state budget released today by former state chief economist Mike Ferguson and former state schools superintendents Jerry Evans and Marilyn Howard, along with two members of the governor's education task force. “It sounds…
Mike Ferguson was Idaho’s chief state economist for 25 years. Jerry Evans, a Republican, was Idaho’s schools chief for 16 years; Marilyn Howard, a Democrat, served in that post for eight years. Today, all three stood together behind an alternative state budget that Ferguson has…
Hundreds of people have filled the rotunda of the state Capitol today for the state’s official Martin Luther King Jr.-Idaho Human Rights Day ceremony, filling the center of the statehouse on the 2nd floor and looking on from the floors above. “Dr. King was relentless…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Legislative budget writers have approved $1.9 million in spending to hire 90 guards and other prison workers for Idaho's takeover of the privately-managed Idaho Correctional Center. The Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America…
Idaho’s three community colleges would get a 9.1 percent funding boost next year, under Gov. Butch Otter’s budget proposal, but much of that $2.8 million increase would go to cover increasing enrollment at the fast-growing College of Western Idaho, occupancy costs for new buildings at…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Civil liberties activists won another victory in their bid to protect free speech when they convinced Idaho senators to reject rules designed to manage rallies around the Idaho Capitol. The Senate State Affairs…
The latest Georgetown University study estimates that by 2020, 68 percent of Idaho jobs will require a post-secondary degree or certificate, Idaho State Board of Education President Don Soltman told the Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning. “We all know that education is directly tied…
Today is an official state holiday – Martin Luther King Jr.-Idaho Human Rights Day – but the Legislature, which doesn’t take holidays, is in session. First up this morning, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee kicks off a week of education budget hearings with a presentation from…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
