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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

State of the State Reax: Consider all Funding Options

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Tuesday, January 11, 2011   

BOISE, Idaho - Governor Butch Otter presented his list of proposed budget cuts during his combined State of the State and Budget Address Monday, with most of the reductions targeted at Medicaid coverage for adults.

He proposed about $20 million more for public education to help cover rising enrollment, and gave praise to teachers and parents for improvements in student performance.

Idaho Education Association president Sherri Wood says that, with stimulus and reserve funding gone for the next fiscal year, it will be tough to keep education funding level. And, she says, there was another point in the speech that raised eyebrows.

"We are perplexed by the Governor's call for radical restructuring for a system that they themselves call 'highly performing.'"

David Irwin, communications director with AARP Idaho, says he was encouraged to hear that the Governor wanted public input on budget decisions, and he's hoping all options are considered, besides just budget-cutting. AARP supports an increase in the cigarette tax to preserve Medicaid coverage.

"We have to guard against an 'efficient and effective' Idaho state government becoming a 'harsh and hurtful one,' Especially as so many Idahoans have seen, and continue to see, very difficult economic times."

The state budget shortfall has been forecast at more than $300 million, with some of that expected to be eased through economic growth. Gov. Otter is predicting three percent growth, but his Division of Financial Management is expecting more than double that rate.


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