State leaders visit Victor, talk education and health care

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter brought state government to Teton County on Tuesday for Capital For A Day in Victor.

Idaho leaders said no matter where they travel throughout the state, the public is always concerned about education and health care.

“Timber is a regional issue, water is a regional issue, but when it comes to education it’s really a statewide issue,” said State Superintendent Tom Luna.

Luna said clearing the misconception of what online learning is really about is something that needs to be done. He said the online learning that will happen this school year will happen in the classroom.

“It happens in school, during the school day, in the classroom and with an educator,” said Luna. “What we want is for students to learn in a distance learning or online environment before they graduate high school.”

As for health care, questions still remain on what the state is doing to move forward with the Affordable Care Act.

“No, we’re not setting up the insurance exchange, and we haven’t made a decision on whether or not we’re going to expand medicaid,” said Otter.

In the meantime, Otter said he has appointed two committees to find out what the next best move is for the state.

Otter said he hopes to have a recommendation for the state regarding the Affordable Care Act sometime this fall.

Regardless, according to the act, the state has until January 2014 to have this all figured out.