Your state government

This is a fairly woe is me take on things and is a bit sensationalized. You say they got the contract because they "had ties" you skipped the part where they already do a ton of work for the state school system. You also skipped the part where there was a 9 person panel that decided this, not Luna himself. You may contend that he brought influence to bear on the committee but if that is your contention then say so. You make it sound as if he unilaterally decided on his own solely based on personal ties.

Obviously none of us are privy to all the information the panel considered. Would I like to see an Idaho company get the job and spend less money yes. But what happens when a small Idaho company gets the bid and then fails to complete the work properly because they bit off more than they could chew? What happens when they go wildly over budget? This is speculation but are issues the committee had to consider. There are two sides to every story.

Also you exaggerate the vote on Props 1,2,3. 57 and 58% are not an "overwhelming" majority on 1 and 2. I agree 3 was not the best idea and was voted down with an "overwhelming" majority. But 1 and 2 were pretty close.

Also "rammed through the legislature" is sensationalized. I personally heard from and talked to many legislators some of whom were formerly teachers in the Idaho school system who all saw merit in the props and were not forced to vote for them in any way.

I am as distrustful of the government as any tin foil hat wearer but this sensationalized language to make things sound worse or better than they are is not real useful. Sounds as though you really don't like Luna, but the majority of Idahoans do not agree with you. He has been voted in many times and the effort to recall him fell short.

As far as your original point, I challenge anyone who doesn't like the way things are going to do something about it. Get involved, heck run for the legislature. Make the changes you want to see. 

Based on my personal experience I would say yes.

There was a law I didn't like that that passed a few years back.  I wasn't even aware of it being introduced and found out about it in the news.
However, after it passed I reached out to all the members of the committee directly and pointed out the issues.  They agreed with my point and offered an amendment the following session to address my concerns.  Myself and anyone else who was interested in the legislation was allowed to have three minutes (I think I went 5) to discuss our point of view in the public hearing.  The bill was passed and I felt very much so that they listened to me.

I still frequently communicate with all of the key legislatures on the committees I care about.

So, with all that I feel that things sneak through far too often because it's impossible to stay up on all the bills being introduced, but if you make it to committee to oppose a bill and have facts and reason to back up your opposition they do indeed listen.

Excellent summary, and I agree completely.

Obviously there is an issue with the education system in Idaho and the funding it receives. Education receives over 65% of the revenue the state has but still claims to be woefully underfunded. So something needs to change. Luna tried something, the voters decided it didn't work. So yes the road continues, something still needs to be done. Unless you would rather he sit back and say well then I guess everything is fine and then everyone can whine every year when their school doesn't get the funding they think it needs. 

Go ahead and run, if LeFavour can get elected you shouldn't have a problem with your lack of religion.

Yeah, I try to be very actively involved with not only my representatives but the key committee members as well.  There's not a law in Nebraska that gets introduced that I don't read cover to cover.

I hate to generalize, but it's incredible to me how ignorant many of these lawmakers are to reality and even the very laws they're voting on.

I have one example where I testified in the judiciary committee emphatically arguing with the entire committee that a law was unconstitutional based on ex post facto grounds.  They kept saying it wasn't retroactive, and I quoted the exact words in the law where it said it was retroactive and they all looked at me like lost sheep.  They still passed the law and sure enough within weeks the state was sued and ended up spending over a million dollars defending the suit that they ultimately lost on ex post facto grounds.  /facepalm
Over time, they've started to listen to me but it's still an uphill fight. 

I will likely never run for politics, but I will always be very active at the local political level.

When you live in a state with as dysfunctional of a government as mine, you look for alternatives.

It's not a liberal/conservative thing for me.  It's a competence/incompetence thing.

For the record, our Republican governor has a lower approval rating in this Deep South red state than our President who got 40% of the vote.

Nope.  But if you look at voter turnout for off-year elections, what reason do these guys have to listen when nobody really cares (broad statement - but, generally speaking if people cared they would show up to the polls and they just don't)?

I would say absolutely, yes, but the majority of constituents don't get involved and speak up, so their opinion is never heard.  I think most people just assume that their representatives are not accessible, or that they won't listen.  That's definitely not true for most legislators.  In fact, most have staff people dedicated to helping constituents.

PA has a full time legislature, and arguably, one of the more corrupt state governments (based on the number of high profile legislators and agency officials in the news in the last 10-15 years).  Despite that, it's been my experience that anyone can contact their legislator, be heard, and affect the process.  Plus, legislators tend to listen to a group of their constituents more readily than they do lobbyists for larger special interests, because even though special interests may make large monetary contributions to their campaign funds, the constituents are still the ones they need to keep happy if they want them to vote for them in the next election.

BTW, My wife was a lobbyist to our state government for nearly 20 years, and is currently serving as a gubernatorial appointee, and I have personally been involved in grass roots lobbying, so I'm basing this on personal experience, and because I live in a house that rarely goes a day without discussing state politics.