Capitol Letters: What school vouchers would mean for rural Idaho

Ryan Suppe, Hayat Norimine
·3 min read

By Ryan Suppe, State Politics Reporter; and Hayat Norimine, Accountability Editor

With few bills remaining on its calendar, the House on Friday recessed until Tuesday.

In the meantime, some committees will meet. House State Affairs will take up two abortion-related proposals today. Chairman Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, told the House that the proposals deal with fixes to existing anti-abortion law.

Sponsor House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, previously introduced legislation to clarify that the state’s criminal abortion ban does not prohibit birth control or treatment of miscarriages.

The Senate will reconvene this morning to work through a full calendar, which includes dozens of gubernatorial appointments that the Senate is responsible for confirming.

What would school vouchers mean for rural Idaho?

Challis, the seat and largest city in Custer County, is home to about 1,000 people, two public schools and no private schools. If a Challis resident wanted to attend a private school, the closest option is in Sun Valley — 119 miles away.

Twenty of Idaho’s 44 counties didn’t have a private school as of December, according to data compiled by the Idaho State Department of Education and analyzed by the Idaho Statesman. Of the state’s 120 private schools, about three in four were in one of four counties: Ada, Canyon, Kootenai and Twin Falls.

Legislation proposed this session would have diverted public school funds to private and home-school families through education savings accounts, a private school voucher mechanism.

But the lack of private school options in rural areas, and the concentration of private schools in urban areas, means that under a school voucher system, rural taxpayers would subsidize urban private schools at their own expense.

“Rural schools depend heavily on state funding,” Dale Layne, of the Idaho Rural Schools Association, told lawmakers last month. Education savings accounts and vouchers “siphon dollars away from the rural schools to pay for students mostly in urban areas.”

Read Ryan’s full story here.

Gov. Little signs firing squad bill

Idaho could execute death row inmates by firing squad as early as this summer.

Gov. Brad Little on Friday signed a bill to let state officials use the method when they can’t obtain lethal injection drugs. The Idaho Department of Correction will be tasked with creating policies to implement the new law and building a facility — an estimated cost of $750,000 — for the executions. The law goes into effect in July.

“While I am signing this bill, it is important to point out that fulfilling justice can and must be done by minimizing stress on corrections personnel,” Little wrote in a transmittal letter after signing the bill. “For the people on death row, a jury convicted them of their crimes, and they were lawfully sentenced to death. It is the responsibility of the state of Idaho to follow the law and ensure that lawful criminal sentences are carried out.”

Read the full story by reporters Kevin Fixler and Ryan Suppe.

What to expect today

  • 8 a.m. Senate State Affairs. The public can testify on a House bill that would criminalize transporting minors out of state to help them obtain an abortion.

  • 1 p.m. House State Affairs. The committee plans to introduce two new bills to amend Idaho’s anti-abortion law, sponsored by House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett.

  • 1 p.m. Senate Judiciary and Rules. The public can testify on a bill that would raise judges’ salaries.

Find the full list of committee meetings and agendas for the House here, and for the Senate here.

Track other bills

Keep track of high-profile bills as they go through the legislative process. You can find yesterday’s updates here.

If you like this newsletter, forward to a friend or colleague, and they can sign up here.

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