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 Don Soltman, president of the State Board of Education, followed by the budget hearings for the state’s three community colleges, the College of Southern Idaho, College of Western Idaho and North Idaho College. The Senate State Affairs Committee has an 8 a.m. hearing on the court-rejected rules restricting protests on the grounds of the state Capitol and in surrounding areas; state officials want the rules re-enacted to help their positioning for an appeal, but a federal judge already has ruled portions of the rules unconstitutional under the 1^st Amendment, and opponents are warning that re-enacting them could double the state’s legal bills.

Official state Martin Luther King Day ceremonies are set for noon in the 2^nd-floor rotunda, following a march from Boise State University to the Capitol; BSU history professor Jill Gill will give a keynote address commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act, and Lt. Gov. Brad Little will give a formal proclamation of Idaho’s 27^th annual observance of Martin Luther King’s birthday. The ceremony will open with a trumpet fanfare, and will include musical performances, a color guard, a peace quilt display and information tables.

The House convenes today at 11 a.m., and the Senate at 11:30; 11 House or Senate committees have meetings or hearings scheduled today.