Launch vs. Student Debt Forgiveness
What is the difference between Gov. Little’s Launch Program and Biden’s Student Debt Forgiveness?
An email from the Governor’s Desk(← see link here) got me thinking about the Idaho Launch Program. (All links are bold and underlined for your convenience).
There are many things I would like to bring to your attention.
He says in his email that, “If you’re a high school senior or the parent of a high school senior, do not delay in applying for a LAUNCH grant. There is only enough money to offer grants to half of Idaho’s high school seniors, and some of the most popular programs will fill up quickly.” What happened to every graduate, starting with the class of 2024, getting an $8000 dollar grant? Is this setting the stage for future appropriations? Your legislators sat through many presentations and floor debate that lead us to believe that Launch was for every graduate. Now he is telling us there is only enough for half of the graduates. https://www.isu.edu/news/2023-fall/governor-brad-little-visits-idaho-state-university-to-announce-idaho-launch-program.html
“During his State of the State address the Governor outlined his vision of expanding the program to provide grants to all Idaho high school graduates interested in in-demand jobs.” IACI (← read full 9 page statement on 2023 session) also was under the impression that this was for all students.
Who are the Workforce Council Members? Could there be a conflict of interest with some of them? How will they be held accountable by the Citizens of Idaho who pay taxes? What additional cost burden will this Workforce Council have on the hard working Idahoans who paid for their own school and their own training? Senate Bill 1212 appropriated 5 million and an addition 6 full time positions (FTP) to launch this “Launch”.
How will the Workforce Council determine what the in-demand jobs are? Will the decision be based on which industries have a demand for workers? For some reason, this all reminds me of the movie Antz, I suggest you watch it, look for correlations.
Will this fix our workforce problem in Idaho? Or will we be training employees for other states? There is no guarantee that once they have been trained and gone through the program, they will stay in Idaho. People will go where opportunities present themselves. As I debated on the Senate floor, I believe our workforce issue is more of a motivation issue than it is a money issue.
What is the difference between Governor Little's Launch Bill and Biden's Student Debt Forgiveness? Nothing, except one provides money before they receive training, and the other provides it after they are trained. In my opinion, the Launch program is worse and will not produce the results the Governor or IACI are hoping for.
In closing I leave you with the link to H24 and the trailer bill S1167. Which added some “sideboards” to the spending. I have never been one to tell you what to think. I believe that all of you are more than capable of doing that on your own. However, I do understand how busy most of you are, working long hours and multiple jobs to keep a roof over your head and food on the table. I am here to help make it easier for you to understand what is happening with your hard-earned money.
Idaho Freedom Caucus(IFC) voted against the Governor’s Launch bill and HELD THE LINE for YOU OUR PEOPLE!!!
