REVISED
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS27679 / S1324
This legislation establishes authorizes and creates the Idaho Promise mentor program in the Office of the
Idaho State Board of Education. Under the program, volunteer mentors will help Idaho high school graduates,
veterans, and other adults overcome financial and other barriers to earning postsecondary apprentice and other
job training certificates, and associate degrees. These career-ready credentials will qualify students for vacant,
good paying Idaho jobs which currently go begging. Filling just 7,000 vacant STEM jobs will raise $24 million
in state taxes, far more than the cost of this legislation. The mentors will develop relationships with mentees and
their families to identify credential options, and to help them overcome barriers to enrollment and completion
of career-ready programs. The mentors will be available to recently graduated high school seniors during the
critical summer months when they do not have access to high school counselors and have not yet connected
with postsecondary program advisors. Current data show about 2,600 graduating high school seniors plan to
enroll in postsecondary programs each year but do not do so. The mentors will assist mentees apply for Pell
grants and other sources of funding. Many who do not now apply because they assume postsecondary programs
are beyond their reach will learn that this is not the case.
FISCAL NOTE
The program will seek a mix of grants, gifts and appropriations to cover costs, and if full funding is
not immediately available implementation will occur in stages. The program will need utilize up to 14
compensated mentor coordinators to recruit, supervise and assist the volunteer mentors. There will be up
to two coordinators in each education region of the state, with the program director serving as one of two
coordinators in southwest Idaho. The p Projected increase in appropriations for administrative costs are
as follows: FY2020 (1/3 of a year): $297,000 ($47,000 in administrative costs and $250,000 for mentor
coordinator compensation); and FY 2021 (full year): is $890,000 ($140,000 in administrative costs and
$750,000 for mentor coordinator compensation).
Contact:
Senator Grant Burgoyne
(208) 332-1000
Senator Janie Ward-Engelking
(208) 332-1000
DISCLAIMER: This statement of purpose and fiscal note are a mere attachment to this bill and prepared by a proponent
of the bill. It is neither intended as an expression of legislative intent nor intended for any use outside of the legislative
process, including judicial review (Joint Rule 18).
Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Note Bill SOP/FN REVISED: 03/03/2020, 8:11 AM