The GOP agenda gets mixed grades, from the GOP
Statesman Editorial board
May 26, 2010
Idaho Statesman
With its agenda, the 2010 Legislature set the tone for the 2010 elections. Republican lawmakers fixated on a favorite adversary - the federal government. The states' rights rhetoric culminated with a lawsuit over health care reform.
The GOP-dominated Legislature also imposed historic budget cuts on public schools. The impacts of the 7.5 percent cuts are just beginning to come into focus.
Did the Republicans get the politics right on the first big decision, and wrong on the second? Perhaps.
Consider an Idaho Statesman/KBOI Channel 2 poll of 625 likely Idaho Republican voters. The results rolled out on our front page on the four days leading up to Tuesday's primary.
According to the poll, lawmakers played to their base by picking a fight over health care. Five out of six GOP respondents said they opposed reform. Three of four respondents said they supported signing onto a suit fighting reform - even though the prospects of success seem dubious at best.
This same poll found some buyer's remorse about the K-12 cuts. Republican respondents split on the question of whether they would support additional cuts to K-12 - but 46 percent of respondents said they opposed this year's budget cuts. (The margin for error on the poll is 4 percent.)
That 46 percent figure is significant given the sample and timing.
* First, this poll gauges opinions from a decidedly conservative set of likely Republican voters. More than three-fifths of respondents said they support the agenda of the tea party movement, and one in six consider themselves tea party members.
* Second, the Statesman/KBOI poll, timed around Tuesday's primary, came just as school districts are wrestling with the effects of the budget cut.
The signs are anecdotal - but mounting. Meridian is looking at all-day kindergarten on alternating days, in an attempt to cut busing costs. Melba is eliminating middle and high school music programs. Mountain Home voters will go back to the polls Thursday to decide on a $2.8 million levy; if it fails, sports programs are on the block.
Come fall, the impacts of the 2010-11 budget will become more apparent statewide. And just in time for Idaho's next big election day, the Nov. 2 general election. If the 2010-11 cuts already are getting mixed reviews from a Republican electorate, what will be the reaction in the fall, from GOP, Democratic and independent voters?
So listen carefully to candidates, particularly Republicans, heading into the fall.
Don't be surprised if they keep up the tough talk about the health care lawsuit, just as they did, almost to a person, during the primary. It's safe politics.
But don't hold it against Republicans if more of them talk about doing better for education - even if that means keeping an open mind to removing some sales tax exemptions or looking at other ways to bring in money. Yes, that is moving toward the center - candidates do that heading into the fall. But it also reflects a more nuanced approach to the future of Idaho's public schools.
When voters select a governor and 105 state legislators in five months, they should listen closely to what the candidates say about K-12. Especially considering what Republican voters are saying about K-12.
Originally posted at http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/05/26/1206712/the-gop-agenda-gets-mixed-grades.html
The editorial posted here is provided by permission of its original publisher and does not necessarily reflect the views of Idaho Public Television.