BOISE, Idaho – Idaho’s 68th legislative session is set to begin, spanning 94 days. The session will kick off with Governor Brad Little’s State of the State address, where he will outline his agenda for the year.
Throughout the session, Idaho lawmakers will allocate over $5.2 billion in state spending. Public education is expected to be a key topic, with both Republican and Democratic representatives expressing their views.
Republican House Representative Jordan Redman hopes for changes in education funding that allow public funding to pay for private and charter schools.
Democratic House Representative Ilana Rubel disagrees, and argued that it would have a negative impact on the public education system.
Another significant agenda item is the ownership of public lands. Rubel argues that federally owned public land should remain unchanged.
“All those places where people hunt and fish on BLM lands and camp if [Republicans are] successful would end up being privatized so we’re gonna be working very hard to try to keep those public lands and public hands,” Rubel said.
Redman suggests that privatizing some land could enhance state control and management, particularly regarding wildfire issues.]
“63% of Idaho is federally owned. Looking to manage that a little bit better, we have a lot of issues with wildfires and I think that could be a real positive if we could manage that from the state level,” Redman said.
The session will also address individual party agendas, with Republicans focusing on illegal immigration and Democrats focusing on women’s rights.
