Work left to do during the 'off season'

The Legislature finished its 2025 session two weeks ago. A record number of bills were written and introduced. Many have already been mentioned in previous columns and comments. As one of your representatives, I think it's important to note some of the bills that have not yet attracted much attention.  

HB 388 re-establishes a funding mechanism for public school facilities by providing a “backstop” for remediating unsafe school facilities. Twenty years ago, a fund for this purpose was established and had only been used once. The trouble was that the previous program required a school district to turn over control of the project to a state supervisor and for the subsequent costs to be levied on the district area.  

HB 388 addressed those two problems by relieving a school district of the direct state oversight and establishing a mechanism for repayment.  

These changes are helpful for our rural districts when they have a relatively small-scale problem like a boiler failure and do not have the immediate means to fund a replacement project. This bill could also be helpful when a school facility replacement project is being planned, and the bond funds are less than necessary to get the job done.  

HB 388 transfers $25 million from the state Bond Levy Equalization Fund to the Public School Facilities Cooperative Fund bringing the balance to $50 million for use by our public schools. HB 388 should be a helpful option for our school districts.  

When I met with our school district officials, they all said the costs of special education and transportation are the most difficult to address (and the biggest shortfalls with state funding). HB 396 deals with school transportation. The bill eliminates unnecessary funding provisions currently used by districts offering online education and establishes a better formula for school district transportation costs. 

Additionally, HB 396 allows school districts the option of utilizing alternative vehicles for appropriate uses. This change allows districts to “right-size” their bus and van use for their efficiency and safety needs. Drivers must still have the appropriate training, and vehicles must still be properly maintained. 

We developed a spreadsheet for the school districts comparing the current formula and HB 396 and found our three District 1 school districts all benefited from the new bill. Hopefully, the use of full-size school buses to transport a small number of students can be curtailed.  

SB 1069 builds on the comprehensive Idaho literacy law requiring professional development for all kindergarten through third grade teachers and elementary administrators. This professional development includes coaching and training for teachers based in the “science of reading” and fills a critical gap for our young students’ education.  

This bill made sense to me because it capitalizes on a “train-the-trainer" approach. In the fire service, I found many times there were specific tasks and concepts that were best explained and presented by other firefighters who had specialized training and unique experiences into the small details of a certain element of our training. The early classroom training in my career provided a great foundation for my career, but often it was the peer-to-peer training that made for the most memorable (and effective) skills.  

It’s been said our students must “learn to read” by the third grade so they can “read to learn” the rest of their lives. SB 1069 supports that educational concept.  

There is considerable work to do during this “off-season.” 

Getting the Albeni Falls Dam repaired and the Lake Pend Oreille lake level to a point where our economic and community concerns are met is at the top of my list. Senator Jim Woodward and I co-sponsored a Senate hearing in late March and then successfully ran a resolution (SJM 105, confirmed by both the House and the Senate) calling on our federal government to address the problems with short-term and long-term solutions. I actively work on this issue every week.   

Improving our women’s healthcare situation is paramount as well.  Senator Woodward and I started a women’s health exception bill (SB1184) late this session but did not get the hearings necessary to get the bill into statute. With the recent Adkins decision, I’m more hopeful than before. It seems like memorializing the court cases and confirming their rulings will greatly help our local and state-wide situation.   

There are many more local issues to address and hopefully improve upon like backcountry access, property assessment procedures, sewer/water district fees and of course, public safety issues as well.

I look forward to being more physically active, getting back to work on my house and seeing you around town or on the water. 

Mark Sauter represents Bonner and Boundary counties in the Idaho Legislature in District 1A. He can be reached at msauter@house.idaho.gov.