BOISE, Idaho — Reclaim Idaho announced Thursday that they will be suspending their signature drive after the U.S Supreme Court ruled to block their funding initiative.
Seeking to raise $170 million for K-12 education, their goal was to collect enough signatures from Idahoans to appear on the November election ballot.
The court ruled in favor of Republican Gov. Brad Little's request that a district court's order allowing online signatures be stayed until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hears the case and makes a ruling.
The court's ruling temporarily ended Reclaim Idaho's attempt to collect enough signatures during the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, however, the organization announced the end of their campaign.
Reclaim Idaho released the results of a poll conducted last year. Idahoans were asked how they would vote if an initiative to raise K-12 funding in the state. 62% of those surveyed said they would vote in favor of such a measure.
"It is disheartening to see the Governor fight tooth-and-nail to defeat an initiative for K-12 funding," said Luke Mayville, co-founder of Reclaim Idaho. "This is an initiative that promised to save Idaho from deep cuts to the K-12 budget, and it's an initiative that the vast majority of Idahoans support."
The K-12 funding initiative will not appear on the November election ballot.
Watch more Idaho politics:
See all of our latest political coverage in our YouTube playlist:
