BOISE -- The 2015 legislative session is one day old as the governor kicked things off Monday with his State of the State address live on KTVB. Of course, Gov. Butch Otter is a proud Republican. Tuesday, we heard from Idaho's proud Democratic lawmakers. And, they actually agree on more than you might expect.
Democratic lawmakers laid out their priorities for this year's session, that they say come directly from knocking on thousands of doors last year. They include; higher wages, accountability in government, maintaining Idaho's quality of living, and real investments in education. If you heard the State of the State, you know some of those actually align with the governor's proposals for the session. That's especially true when you look at the governor's request for a 7.4 percent increase in education funding.
House Minority Leader Rep. John Rusche was happy with a lot of what he heard from the governor, but did remind us that Democrats have been pushing for more education funding for years, "We're pleased that the governor outlined many priorities in his address that Idaho Democrats have championed for years. We thank him for beginning to understand that a strong investment in our education system will grow Idaho's economy. We welcome this greater understanding."
In all fairness, some Republicans have said they wanted more education funding, but said there just wasn't enough money during the downturn.
Also, the Democrats didn't like everything they heard. They called the governor's proposed income tax cut for Idaho's highest earning businesses and people a "special interest tax cut." They said if that goes through there should be elimination of special interest tax exemptions, too.
