OPINION: Now is gut-check time for Idaho Gov. Brad Little

Brad Little now confronts a situation no Idaho governor has faced in three decades — a hostile Legislature dominated by his own Republican Party.

But Idaho’s chief executive need not control a majority in the Legislature to have leverage — if he chooses to exercise the veto.

Case in point: The school voucher bill lawmakers just passed and sent to his desk. It earmarks $50 million in tax credits — money taken from public education — to be spent on tuition in private and religious schools.

After years of resisting such measures, Little retreated this year. In so doing, he was bowing to political reality. Financed by out-of-state money, pro-voucher legislative candidates prevailed in many of the state’s closed GOP primary races.

But the governor insisted on parameters.

“Just as we expect the following from our public schools, any school choice measure I would consider must be done the Idaho way, which means it is fair, responsible, transparent and accountable,” Little said in his Jan. 6 State of the State address.

The voucher bill fails on all four points:

Fair — As state Rep. Britt Raybould, R-Rexburg, noted in last weekend’s Idaho Falls Post Register, the bill isn’t fair to special education students.

“A public school may spend $100,000/year to educate a student with complex physical, mental and behavorial needs,” Raybould wrote. “From a business standpoint, it doesn’t make financial sense for private schools to accept this financial burden. So, they usually don’t.”

It isn’t fair to kids whose families don’t share the religious faith of the private school they wish to attend. Raybould described one mom who “wanted to send her kids to a private Christian school in the Treasure Valley. During a visit to the school, she was asked questions about her faith and membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Even after she confirmed that her children would participate in the required Bible instruction, the school refused to accept them because of their faith.”

And it isn’t fair to kids whose families can’t afford the tuition — which could run far more than the tax credit the state is willing to provide.

Responsible — How can it be responsible to launch a school voucher bill headed toward a $300 million price tag when Idaho eventually follows the course of states such as Arizona and Indiana and creates a universal program?

Perhaps if Idaho’s per-pupil expenditures were among the nation’s average, instead of last or second-to-last, if the salaries it offered to prospective teachers were competitive with neighboring states, if school patrons weren’t forced to backfill inadequate state appropriations with record-setting supplemental property taxes and all of its schools were structurally sound and up-to-date, then the state could experiment with subsidizing private instruction.

Transparent — Where is the annual independent financial audit public schools undergo and then release publicly every year?

Accountable — There’s a small concession requiring parents to complete surveys about their experience and another mandating the State Tax Commission to track funds and ensure compliance — as if the Tax Commission has nothing else to do.

But private schools are under no testing requirements.

They can pick and choose curriculum.

Critics say there’s no guarantee qualified teachers will be hired — or that employees are subjected to background checks.

And unlike public schools, there is no obligation to address disadvantages facing some demographic groups.

Nobody forced the governor to set those conditions. They are his.

So he should get out his veto stamp.

Should he do so, the governor stands every chance of prevailing.

Thanks to 19 House Republicans who joined nine Democrats in voting no, the bill did not clear the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.

In the Senate, nine Republicans joined six Democrats to also block a veto-proof two-thirds majority.

The bulk of those Republican votes came from Raybould’s region of the state but three — Reps. Lori McCann, of Lewiston, and Mark Sauter, of Sandpoint, along with Sen. Jim Woodward, of Sagle — represent northern Idaho communities.

Public opinion is with them. An Idaho Education News survey found 94% opposition to the voucher bill from the 1,000 constituents who emailed members of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee five days before it passed the measure. Nonetheless, these Republicans face enormous pressure from legislative leadership, the voucher lobby’s deep pockets, local GOP central committees and even President Donald Trump, who took a break from his federal government demolition job to endorse the voucher bill.

They acted from personal conviction but also to give Little the opportunity to stop the bill. In so doing, Little would adopt the tactics former Gov. Cecil Andrus employed so effectively.

Andrus, Idaho’s last Democratic chief executive, never had a legislative majority. But he had sufficient votes to sustain all but one of the 114 vetoes he issued during his four terms.

Andrus’ clout provided more money for public schools, blocked an extreme anti-abortion law, improved health care for people unable to cover their medical bills and enabled him to secure confirmation of his administrative appointees.

So here’s Little’s choice: He can channel his inner Cecil Andrus, veto this flawed voucher bill and demonstrate that he is a political force to be respected.

Or by capitulating, he can join his party’s growing ranks of political eunuchs. — M.T.