‘Help us spend the first $80 million.’ Lt. gov. pitches Idaho Launch scholarship | Opinion

Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke was at Idaho Falls High School on Friday, touting Gov. Brad Little’s Idaho Launch scholarship program to around 100 students. The program would give all Idaho graduates $8,500 if they choose to go on to an Idaho university or community college, and it would enable any student to get a debt-free associate’s degree or technical certification from one of Idaho’s community colleges.

Idaho Falls is the stomping ground of former Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who frequently sparred with Little while in office before losing badly to him in the primary. While McGeachin did everything she could to undermine Little, Bedke did his best to further the governor’s agenda.

“It will be law,” he confidently predicted about the bill, which still has a long way to go in the Legislature.

Bedke focused his pitch on students who want to enter high-paying fields that don’t require a four-year degree: welding, nursing, dental hygienics, etc.

Bedke told students that the governor was confident the program would produce a better-skilled workforce, but he said the program’s success would be up to them in the end.

“If we put $80 million into you students, and it’s a success story — and if we’d had $100 million, our success story could have been larger, and if we’d have gone to $140 million it would be even larger still, that’s scalable,” Bedke said. “You guys help us spend the first $80 million, make it successful, and we’ll meet your younger siblings with the extra money.”

Several students present said they were interested in pursuing welding — an occupation eastern Idaho is in an acute shortage of as construction of small modular nuclear reactors is expected to begin in the next few years. At a recent LINE Commission meeting, Bedke said, a contractor said they would hire every welder the state could send their way.

Some welders who work at INL need security clearances to work on secure facilities, Bedke emphasized. Jobs like that can pay $60 an hour.

Bedke urged students to contact their state senators to voice their support for the program.

Research on a similar program in Milwaukee showed that students who were offered free community college worked harder in high school and were more diligent in applying for financial aid. And it seems incentives like that are working even before the bill becomes law.

Ninth-graders Lexie McCord, 14, and Kalli Wheeler, 15 — debaters who came to the talk to question Bedke on the details of the bill — said they are already thinking about the burden of student debt.

“From all the research I’ve done, it’s really hard to get out of, especially if you’re going to a larger college that costs more,” Wheeler said.

The idea that the first two years of college would be debt-free “takes a weight off of my shoulders,” she said.

McCord and Wheeler said they’re already weighing whether to stay in Idaho or head out of state for school. The $8,500 grant might tip the balance toward in-state.

“I think it would be really good for the state, and I think it’s a genuinely good idea,” McCord said.

The bill cleared the Idaho House by only two votes, and a majority of House Republicans opposed it — including Idaho Falls Reps. Wendy Horman and Barbara Ehardt.

It’s been referred to the Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee — a clear indication that Senate Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, wants it to move forward since the House Education Committee is packed with the furthest-right members of the Senate, who would surely kill it.

But it’s not a done deal.

Whether it has the votes to clear the Senate floor remains uncertain. There were a lot of kids in the Idaho Falls High School Library last week hoping it will.

Bryan Clark is an opinion writer for the Idaho Statesman based in eastern Idaho.