Idaho Governor Butch Otter focused much of his final “State of the State” address yesterday (Monday) on education.
The governor spent much of the talk talking about his education initiatives. He proposed money to continue to increase teacher salaries, the fourth year of his five-year ‘career ladder’ initiative.
He also urged lawmakers to adopt the recommendations of a task force looking at changes in Idaho’s higher education system. One of the goals of that group is to move 60% of the state’s high school graduates into some form of higher education.
“The task force concluded that we will never achieve the 60-percent goal the way higher education is structured in Idaho today," Otter said. "So its 12 recommendations focus on dramatically changing the way that our system works to make it more integrated, consolidated and student-centric.”
The governor is asking lawmakers to allow the state to hire an executive officer to oversee Idaho’s community colleges and universities.
Otter also proposed to take a step to lower unemployment insurance costs for businesses around the state.
“I once again am proposing a bill to roll back a rate increase that took effect on January 1 as a result of our inaction in 2017," the governor said. "It will cost the Department of Labor roughly $75,000 to process the legally-required tax notices once the change is made. However, that’s a relatively small price compared with the $115 million in higher-than-necessary taxes that Idaho businesses will pay over the next three years if we don’t make this simple but necessary change.”