Idaho Democrats predict more common ground than usual at the state Capitol this year. That’s because Idaho’s minority party leaders say many of the Republican proposals on the table are things Democrats have been pushing -- for years.
Democrats make up only 20 percent of Idaho’s Legislature. House Minority Leader John Rusche says they’re used to their bills not even being printed.
But Rusche was pleased to hear the governor in his State of the State address call for a series of spending measures -- things like increasing the education budget, offering some public employees more competitive salaries and creating programs to train skilled workers.
“We’ve talked about that for years," Rusche says. "Basically, beginning to realize you don’t fix a low-wage economy with further cuts.”
Democrats say overall there’s a lot of agreement, but that the governor’s plans to increase wages don’t go far enough--so they’re working on a bill to boost Idaho’s minimum wage.
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