Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, arguing for his motion for the Operations Division of the public school budget, said he believes the public school budget needs a line item for health insurance costs. “More and more districts are saying that they need a line item,” he said. “During my discussions, this issue was rated the highest priority after the career leader. It’s been said often that this issue is breaking the bank, and I agree.”

Mortimer’s budget motion for the division comes to a 5.5 percent increase in state general funds, compared to the governor’s proposal for a 13.8 percent increase. He wants to allocate $15.26 million to school districts in a line item to offset increases in employee health insurance costs. In order to accomplish that, his proposal taps funding otherwise destined to boost funding for professional development for teachers, classroom technology, and information technology staffing. Mortimer’s proposal also results in a slightly smaller increase in discretionary funds to school districts, at 4 percent or $26,718 per support unit, than the competing motion from a group of JFAC members led by Rep. Wendy Horman, which increases discretionary funds by 4.1 percent, bringing it to $26,748 per support unit.

Horman’s competing motion for the Operations Division reflects a 4.7 percent increase in general funds, 6.5 percent in total funds; the bottom line isn’t that much different from Mortimer’s proposal. She said of health insurance, “The work group agrees that it is a matter of priority. And the funding formula committee certainly heard that, and it is an ongoing discussion with that committee. That being said, the work group took a different approach.”

She said the group “went out and did a ton of homework” on actual costs and increases for school districts. “We recognize that not only are our health insurance costs going up, but other costs for school districts.”

School districts are telling lawmakers they don’t want new line items in the public school budget – lines that tie funding to specific items, rather than allowing local discretion on how to spend them. As the state prepares to move to a new school funding formula – an ongoing committee is working on that, and likely won’t have proposals for another year – Horman said a big new line item for health insurance is “one more thing to undo.”

Horman’s proposal, seconded by Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, includes a $5 million increase for classroom technology; Gov. Butch Otter had recommended $10 million, and Superintendent Sherri Ybarra had requested $8 million. It also includes $5 million to increase funding for IT staffing; both Otter and Ybarra had requested just $500,000.

Ward-Engelking said, “We recognize that health care is a huge expense and concern for all school districts.” She said the proposal envisions “two buckets of discretionary spending,” one for health insurance and another for non-health insurance costs, with districts having the flexibility to shift funds from one to the other. “It allows for maximum flexibility,” she said, “and that was one of our goals, was to get districts more control in spending.”

Idaho EdNews has a more extensive explanation of the proposal here.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, JFAC co-chair, said she questioned the mechanism the group set up. “I think there is actually less flexibility and potentially a cut in discretionary funds,” she said. “From the way that’s worded … I have some grave concerns.” Keough said Gov. Butch Otter has made it clear he wants a line item to reflect increases in health insurance costs, and make that expense clear.

Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene, said, “These are both very strong and good budgets. … We’re taking the same grouping of dollars and just allocating it differently in these budgets. So both these budgets are below the total amount recommended by the governor, and both of them are very close to the same percentage as each other It’s just that they appear to be putting the money into different categories for the operations budget for the schools.” She said she favored Mortimer’s motion, “because I believe it gives a little bit more flexibility, especially in the discretionary dollars. Because some classrooms, some school districts don’t need the additional technology … and others will. So this gives the local control. But we all know that health care is a huge issue.”

Mortimer said, “They’re incurring it, we just have not expressed an interest in addressing it.”

Horman said, “This is a bridge solution,” to get district by until the new funding formula is developed.

Sen. Jeff Agenbroad, R-Nampa, noted that if JFAC were to approve Mortimer’s motion on operations, after having approved Horman’s on the Teachers Division, the overall budget for public schools would be $4.8 million higher because of the professional development funds and other items that were approved in the Teachers Division. That would bump it up to a 6.7 percent increase. Mortimer’s overall proposal is for a 6.38 percent increase in state general funds for public schools; Horman’s is for 6.3 percent. Gov. Butch Otter recommended a 6.4 percent increase.

Mortimer said he’d be fine with that higher increase.

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