BOISE, Idaho — Monday is the start of the Idaho Legislative session, meaning elected lawmakers will be deciding laws about your future. Idaho News 6 spoke to two lawmakers, one Republican, and one Democratic, to talk about laws that will likely get proposed this year.
- One big topic on everyone's agenda will be education. Things like tax credits for non-public school students, The Idaho LAUNCH program, and the University of Idaho's Purchase of University of Phoenix.
- Cultural legislation will also be a big topic. The GOP will likely continue to push legislation regarding LGBTQ rights and materials in public libraries they feel are inappropriate for minors.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
Education is going to be on everyone's agenda this year, for several reasons.
A press conference on Friday kicked off the debate.
Some Republican Party members hope to pass a bill that would offer Idaho families a Tax Credit to fund tuition and fees outside of traditional public school settings.
"Our mandate to provide for the education for all children in the state of Idaho, our constitutional mandate, should include other options besides a one system fits all children option," said Republican from Idaho's 1st district Senator Scott Herndon.
On the other end of the aisle, Democratic Senator Melissa Wintrow, from the 19th district, disagrees.
"Anything that would divert funding from our constitutional obligation to fund a free and uniform public school system is not constitutionally sound and is not what our citizens want," Wintrow said.
The Idaho LAUNCH Program,which provides tuition assistance for students seeking jobs in high-demand areas, Is heavily endorsed by Governor Little but there will be arguments about its necessity, from both sides of the aisle.
Herndon also wants to look at the University of Idaho's purchase of the University of Phoenix from back in May.
"There were probably open meeting law violations," Herndon said about the acquisition. "and there's a lot of obscurity behind that negotiation process."
Senator Wintrow also says Medicaid will be an important topic this session.
"We'll stand firmly against the repeal, I've heard that some folks want to repeal Medicaid expansion which will take health care away from thousands of Idaho working families. We will fight against that for sure," Wintrow said.
Outside of healthcare and education...
"There's the cultural war going on," Herndon said.
He tells me he wants to revisit recent LGBTQ legislation, and says even though the ban on gender-affirming health care is being held up, nothing is stopping the legislature from creating new laws.
He also wants to continue working on governing materials that are available in public libraries. We saw several bills work their way through the statehouse about that last year.
Regarding legislation around LGBTQ rights and libraries, Wintrow is clear.
"That is a far overreach of our government and we will stand firmly for our freedoms and our citizens and staunchly oppose that," Wintrow said.
