READ: Gov. Little highlights plans for 2024 while speaking at Highland High School
 We've made HISTORIC investments into Idaho's public education system - from a 500% increase in literacy funding to increasing salaries for ALL teachers and school staff. Now, my IDAHO WORKS plan calls for the largest-ever investment to improve school facilities while providing long-term property tax relief!
"Gov. Brad Little visited Highland High School Wednesday to tout highlights from his recent State of the State address with an emphasis on his commitment to education.
Little first touted Idaho’s status as one of the fastest growing states, its ranking as first in the U.S. in income growth and top five ranking nationwide in employment growth. Little also discussed his efforts to help the state's teachers and lauded his “record investments" in education.
“Idaho starting teacher pay was in the bottom 10 and sometimes the bottom five states,” Little said. “I can't increase education if I'm not competitive. The first thing we did was increase starting teacher pay. The second thing we did was veteran (teacher) pay. The third thing we did was get much better benefits, mainly health insurance. Then I doubled and tripled the investment in literacy.”
Little highlighted his $2 billion investment over the next 10 years to repair and improve Idaho’s neglected school buildings. School facilities within Idaho are primarily funded through property taxes and a reliance on voter-approved bonds.
During the fall of 2023, a $45 million bond was proposed locally that would have provided funds to rebuild and renovate Highland High School after a devastating fire there in April 2023. But the bond failed to get the needed supermajority of voter support required for it to pass."
Republican Governors Push Back on Biden, Block Foreign Governments From Buying Public Lands
This proposal made clear that East Coast elites have no understanding of how public lands are properly managed out west. Thanks to pressure from Republican states, the right decision was made.
"The Biden administration abruptly rescinded a proposal that would have opened public lands to private ownership, a policy that received opposition from federal and state lawmakers over potential national security concerns.
"The Committee is deeply concerned with the potential impact NACs may have on the management of federal lands, effective conservation of wildlife habitat, and responsible development of natural resources," the Republicans wrote to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and Haoxiang Zhu, the director of the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets.
"Most notably, the proposed rule would allow private investment interests to control and manage national parks and other publicly owned lands — an unprecedented power-grab and usurpation of federal authority," they continued. "This possibility is alarming, but, when coupled with the proposal’s arbitrary designations and ill-defined terms, it may prove calamitous to the statutory multiple-use mandates of federal lands and responsible development of America’s natural resources.""
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IDAHO WORKS FOR TRANSPORTATION - Gov. Little Calls For More Local Road & Bridge Improvements
 In Idaho, we have taken control of transportation. Our responsible, HISTORIC investments in local roads and bridges are keeping Idahoans SAFE without raising taxes or fees!
"Gov. Brad Little will ask the Idaho Legislature to appropriate $200 million for bridge repairs next year. That’s the same amount approved in 2022 and 2023.
Funding to repair local bridges could help Idaho farmers and ranchers save time and money, proponents say.
“It’s going to have tangible benefits for people in rural areas,” said Wayne Hammon, Idaho Associated General Contractors CEO.
Farmers and ranchers see direct bottom-line impacts when they have to detour around a weight-restricted bridge, he said. And families are impacted when school buses take time-consuming detours.
“Let’s continue to facilitate commerce with added transportation investments, especially in rural Idaho,” Little said in a speech to open the legislative session Jan. 8. This third and final installment of bridge-repair funding would help to clear a backlog and reduce future property tax burdens.
About half of the state’s approximately 2,500 bridges are approaching the end of their design lifespans, said Laila Kral, an engineer who is the administrator of Boise-based Local Highway Technical Assistance Council.
When the first funding was approved two years ago, 404 bridges were listed as in poor condition or had load restrictions, she said.
So far, nearly $250 million has been obligated and 189 projects have received funding. Thirteen projects have been completed, 24 are under construction, and about $150 million in projects is forecast for advertisement and construction in 2024."
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