Supreme Court win fuels efforts for Reclaim Idaho

WALLACE — Reclaim Idaho scored a big win earlier this week when the Idaho Supreme Court struck down a new law that would have made it more difficult to advance ballot initiatives.

If upheld, the law would have required groups to collect signatures from six percent of registered voters from all of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts to qualify for the ballot.

This would’ve included the Quality Education Act, a current initiative that Reclaim Idaho has been actively promoting throughout the state and will continue to do so in the coming weeks.

The Supreme Court win means that to get the measure on the ballot, the grassroots organization will operate under the previous rule that required them to get signatures from six percent of registered voters in 18 of Idaho’s legislative districts.

Reclaim Idaho organizers are now set to hit the road for another promotional tour for the QEA, where the hope is that if they collect enough signatures by May 1, 2022, a ballot initiative will be voted on later that year. Reclaim Idaho argues that passage of the QEA would invest more than $300 million annually into Idaho’s K-12 education system.

64,945 signatures is the magic number needed to get the measure onto the ballot and beginning in just a few days, Reclaim Idaho will be making a stop in Wallace at the annual Under the Freeway Flea Market to inform the masses of their mission.

“The Idaho Legislature has failed to invest in education for the past 25 years, leaving us dead last of 50 states in education funding,” said Reclaim Idaho co-founder Luke Mayville. “It’s time to put the Quality Education Act on the ballot and give Idaho voters a chance to start investing in our kids again.”

The hope would be that they would be adding roughly $1,000 per student in Idaho’s schools and return Idaho to the 8% corporate tax rate that existed from 1987 until 2000.

While many people see a number like $300 million and immediately wonder where that money is coming from, according to Reclaim Idaho’s FAQ sheet, there would be no tax increases to anyone who makes less than $250,000 per year, and would feature a raise of less than 5% for those who make over that amount.

The money would go to the schools as needed where they would decide how it gets spent.

Some of the things Reclaim has emphasized during their signature campaign are teacher hiring and retention, full-time kindergarten, and the creation and accessibility of career-technical education fields (particularly in rural areas) that would help students have some idea on a career path right out of high school.

The money is specifically not allowed to go toward administrator salaries.

According to numbers from the State Department of Education, the average Idaho teacher salary dropped by nearly $900 last year. And a 2018 report by the State Board of Education found that 1 in 10 Idaho teachers are leaving the profession each year.

Just last month, local Reclaim Idaho volunteer Judy Lewis was out and about at community events in the Silver Valley like Silver Hoops, as well as the Firefighter’s Union Fundraiser, collecting signatures and answering questions from concerned and curious citizens.

“We were very successful finding many residents eager to do something to help Idaho kids,” Lewis said. “Everyone we talked to already knew that the Idaho state government underfunds Idaho schools. Idaho is in last place from all 50 states in funding Idaho public schools in the amount per student. Even Puerto Rico is better than Idaho is.”

Reclaim Idaho explains themselves as the nonpartisan, volunteer-driven organization that also spearheaded the Medicaid Expansion ballot initiative — which passed with 61% of the statewide vote.

The Under the Freeway Flea Market is scheduled for Labor Day weekend beginning on Friday, Sept. 3, and running through Sept. 6.

For more information, please email info@reclaimidaho.org or by visiting www.reclaimidaho.org.