Gov. Butch Otter asked the Legislature to focus its priorities on education this year while laying out his $3.29 billion budget proposal.

While some of the programs sound like good ones, many local legislators are concerned the governor’s proposal spends too much money.

“There was a lot of spending and some new ideas,” said Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene. "Some of those sounded like good ideas, but one thing I would have liked to see is balance."

Souza said she would like to see more tax cuts to balance the spending proposals.

“I’m not saying take away any of the education spending,” Souza said. “The governor did say these programs could be funded within the current tax levels, which is key.”

Souza said legislators are anxious to look into the details of the budget proposal to make sure it is budget neutral.

Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, was also concerned about the spending and lack of tax relief proposals.

“A lot of the conservatives were wondering how much he is spending and where the money is going to come from,” Barbieri said, adding he hasn’t analyzed the budget enough to answer some of his own questions. “What are we talking about here? I want to see more details.”

Barbieri said the Legislature already committed to a lot of the spending the governor is proposing, but legislators are curious about some of the new spending.

“In general it didn’t seem very conservative to me,” Barbieri said. “It wasn’t positive from my perspective.”

Barbieri said he would have liked to see some corporate tax relief to attract more employers to the state.

“But we are just beginning these conversations,” he said. “We’ll know more as we get down the road a little.”

During his 10th State of the State address to lawmakers, Otter announced his budget proposal for fiscal year 2017. It signaled the beginning of the 2016 Idaho Legislature.

His budget includes nearly $40 million to fund the second installment of a five-year plan to boost teacher pay. There is also a call for $25 million for the state's colleges and universities to expand research and workforce development.

"We are entrusted with the singular constitutional responsibility of providing for a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools throughout Idaho. Frankly, I'm convinced that we would see this as our highest priority, even if it wasn't in our Constitution. So promoting and constantly improving education for the people of Idaho must be the foundation of our work together," Otter said.

Otter said education spending is his top priority for lawmakers to address over the next three months.

Otter's overall budget increase is roughly 7.3 percent, making his proposed budget total just more than $3.29 billion.

The amount is one of the highest budget requests the governor has submitted in the past 10 years.

Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d’Alene, said he was pleased with the governor’s emphasis on education.

“I like that he is focused on medical education because we do have a doctor shortage right now,” Malek said, adding it is an important time to invest in education.

Education was the primary focus of the governor's speech, but Otter also said he wants more investment in fixing Idaho’s public defender system.

Otter wants the Idaho Legislature to approve $5 million in new spending to cover the recommendations made by a committee of lawmakers who studied how to reform Idaho's public defender system over the summer.

Though that committee is expected to meet later this week to nail down the details on its recommendations, it is considering one option that would give counties that agree to meet certain public defense standards either a 15 percent boost to their public defender budget or $25,000.

Otter also wants $2 million to go to the state's Constitutional Defense Fund, which has been depleted over the years after paying legal fees and attorney costs in failed lawsuits Idaho has faced against the federal government.

If approved, the addition will be the largest funding boost since the fund's creation 20 years ago.

Otter has proposed funding an additional behavioral health community crisis center for the state at a cost of $1.7 million.

Otter first proposed establishing crisis centers for the mentally ill in three Idaho cities in 2014, with plans to expand eventually to seven across the state. So far, two of the centers have been created — the first in Idaho Falls and the second in Coeur d'Alene.

Malek said now that the Coeur d’Alene center is open, legislators will be watching to see how it benefits the community.

“Everyone is going to be watching what Coeur d’Alene does,” he said. “They will be looking for Coeur d’Alene to be an example of how we do this effectively.”

The centers seek to help residents with mental illness who would otherwise face jail, emergency room treatment or other expensive interventions that often don't provide effective or ongoing help for their problems.

Otter said during the first nine months that the Idaho Falls center was open, it had more than 1,000 admissions and diverted 47 people from more expensive in-patient psychiatric care. It also saved an estimated 860 hours of law enforcement officers' time, he said.

The newest center would be in southern Idaho, Otter said, though he didn't say exactly where.

Malek said Boise and Canyon County are likely locations, but there is a need all over the state.

Otter is proposing a new program that would freeze college and university tuition for incoming freshman so they would pay the same rate for at least four academic years.

Otter said the program will provide financial predictability for students and families while also providing incentive to finish their higher education in four years.

The governor is also recommending spending $5 million in scholarships for Idahoans with some college education, but who do not have a degree.

Overall, the governor is proposing an 8.8 percent increase in spending for four-year colleges and universities and more than 9 percent funding increase for community colleges for fiscal year 2017.

Souza was encouraged by the governor’s focus on Career and Technical Education programs. She said more funding could benefit North Idaho College’s new Career and Technical programs next fall.

“NIC has a long line of people waiting for these type of programs,” she said. “And the employment rate for those students coming out of these programs is just below 100 percent.”

Otter is proposing a 7.9 percent increase to $1.59 billion to fund Idaho's public schools, marking a second year in a row the Republican governor has proposed steep hikes to education spending as the state continues to recover from the economic downturn.

Malek said he supports restoring the public school operating budgets to pre-recession levels.

“I want to make sure our students have the tools they need to get a good education,” he said.

Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra also praised Otter's latest education spending proposal, calling it a "great day" for education in Idaho.

Ybarra had released her own public school budget proposal in September that called for a 7.5 percent increase in education spending.

She added she would release more of her own budget specifics at a joint finance and appropriations legislative meeting later this month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.