C.L. "BUTCH" OTTER
GOVERNOR
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 2010
10:013
CONTACT: Jon Hanian
(208) 334-2100
GOVERNOR APPLAUDS JFAC DECISION ON PUBLIC SCHOOLS FUNDING
(BOISE) – Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter issued the following statement in response to today’s decision on public school funding by the Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.
“My staff and I have been meeting with legislative leaders and the JFAC co-chairs over the past several weeks to discuss how to meet our shared constitutional mandate to balance the State budget. These discussions followed months of unprecedented work together toward building a consensus on addressing the difficult challenges we face.
“I am pleased that a workable solution has been found for Fiscal Year 2010. The JFAC plan is an appropriate response to the latest economic news. After consulting with locally elected school officials, I fully support the 18-month approach to budgeting for public schools in order to leave them without harm in the current budget year. I’m hopeful that it will provide more flexibility for schools in meeting their own budget needs.
“I said in my State of the State address that I was not asking members of the Legislature to substitute my judgment for their own. That is particularly true in light of our rapidly evolving revenue picture. JFAC members and co-chairs deserve our thanks for taking on this heavy lifting in such a responsible and constructive way.”