Budget writers agree that Initiative 1351 should not be funded. This is easier said than done. (Like true love, the course of budget writing never did run smooth.)

I-1351 requires class size reductions for grades K-12, while the McCleary decision requires class size reductions only for grades K-3. The Legislature is already working on that K-3 reduction requirement; adding the reductions for grades 4-12 would increase spending by about $2 billion for the 2015-17 biennium. (Here’s our report comparing the House and Senate 2015-17 budget proposals, and here’s our report from last year on the initiative.)

The House plan assumes a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to amend I-1351 (required since the initiative is not two years old), while the Senate would send an amended I-1351 back to voters this fall (requiring only a simple majority of the Legislature, but a high level of faith in the voters). John Stang writes about the pluses and minuses of each option.

Are voters likely to see it the Legislature’s way? According to an Elway poll from last week, 53 percent of registered voters still favor class size reductions for grades K-12. And,

Only 36 percent of voters in the poll said they favor the K-3 compromise.

But voters were more divided when Elway asked if they’d support a resubmitted version of I-1351 that included a tax increase to cover the $2 billion cost. Forty-eight percent said they definitely or probably would vote yes. Forty-three percent were certain or likely to vote no.

This week State Superintendent Randy Dorn proposed spending an additional $2.2 billion on basic education. But even his plan amends I-1351: It would fund class size reductions for grades K-12, but classes wouldn’t be reduced by as much as required by I-1351, and full implementation would occur in 2021 rather than 2018.

Where will the money come from? The Times had reported, “Dorn didn’t say how he would pay for his plan — but he and state Treasurer Jim McIntire have scheduled a news conference for Thursday to discuss that.” Apparently that has been re-scheduled for Monday, so stay tuned.