House Education Committee introduces RS 32040 to create need-based school facilities grant fund

The Idaho House Committee on Education on Jan. 28, 2025 voted to introduce RS 32040, a bill sponsored by Representative Rod Furness and Representative Sony Galaviz to establish a state grant program for public school facilities. The committee moved to print the request for hearing and the motion carried by voice vote; the chair cast an affirmative vote.

The bill would repeal an older statutory program and establish a public education facilities fund to provide need-based grants for construction, remodeling and maintenance directly related to a district’s core educational mission. Representative Rod Furness, sponsor of the RS, told the committee: "This is a ... bill that helps public education, facilities." Representative Sony Galaviz said the program is aimed at rural districts that cannot access sufficient bonding capacity and "seeks to address that issue directly and allow a means to get some of the projects done and help for those rural districts."

RS 32040 would transfer an existing $25 million account into the new grant fund and would authorize an additional transfer of up to half of the balance in the "public school health insurance participation fund," which sponsors said currently holds about $57,000,000. The bill as described by sponsors would limit uses to facility work tied to a district’s educational mission and explicitly forbid using these grants for athletic facilities.

Under the bill’s application rules described to the committee, school districts would apply to the Office of the State Board of Education. Applications must document financial need (including three years of budgets), copies of project bids, any bond history for the project (how many times a bond has failed, whether a bond is outstanding), and a detailed plan showing why the facility work is necessary and how it relates to safety or educational functions. The Office of the State Board of Education would rank and monitor grants; Division of Public Works members would sit on a review committee to evaluate technical plans.

Sponsors provided local examples to illustrate need. Furness described an elementary school in Salmon, Idaho, that he said was structurally compromised and noted the Salmon community passed a $20,000,000 bond after 13 attempts but remained roughly $3,000,000 short of completing a new elementary. Galaviz cited North Gem School District as an example in which a basic new elementary could cost about $30,000,000 while the district’s bonding capacity was roughly $10,000,000, leaving a large shortfall even if voters approved a bond.

Committee members raised procedural and policy questions for the public hearing. Representative Clough asked whether the fund would be exhausted by a few large grants and whether there would be per-project limits. Several members asked whether districts should be required to maintain a local maintenance levy or other local revenue before qualifying for state grants. Representative Harris asked whether general fund contributions would have a cap and sought clarification about the proposed transfer from the health-insurance participation fund. Representative Hawkins asked why the prior fund had been used only once (she was told earlier that the prior application process was onerous and resulted in the state assuming control of project direction, which discouraged applicants).

Sponsors told the committee they will provide a spreadsheet of district facility needs compiled under the facility assessment requirement included in the 2024 distribution of certain school capital funds. Galaviz said the state department of education maintains an itemized breakdown of immediate needs and longer-term capital projections and that sponsors would submit district-level data for committee members ahead of the public hearing.

Action: Representative Sodder moved that the committee introduce RS 32040 for a hearing. The motion carried by voice vote; the chair recorded an affirmative vote. No roll-call tally was provided in the hearing record.

The committee left the motion to introduce pending a public hearing at which sponsors said they would answer technical questions (per-grant limits, prioritization rules, repayment triggers if a project is overfunded, and the precise mechanics of proposed transfers). The RS will return to the committee for a hearing where members asked to see: (1) per-district needs spreadsheets, (2) a clear definition of which districts qualify as "rural" or "priority," (3) any caps or per-grant limits, and (4) details on the proposed transfer of funds from the public school health insurance participation fund.

Ending: The bill was introduced for hearing; sponsors committed to providing the committee with district-by-district need assessments and drafting clarifications on eligibility and limits before the public hearing.