BOISE -- While the first week of the 1998 Legislature was relatively quiet, a few issues did start to distance themselves from the pack.

Abortion is beginning to have its predicted effect, according to some lawmakers, dividing legislators between those who feel it is a legitimate issue needing to be addressed and those who feel it's being used as a political tool. Many of the 35 lawmakers remaining from the 1990 session -- when the last round of abortion restriction bills led to national attention, heated debates, massive protests and the loss of several Republican seats in the next election -- would rather the issue disappear.

Sen. Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, senses an "angry" mood among lawmakers due to the issue, and added abortion is "dominating the psyche of this Legislature, and we haven't even had the pickets and demonstrations yet."

Schroeder was also dismayed by Gov. Phil Batt's proposed budget for public schools, calling it "embarrassing" and saying it appears Idaho wants to compete with Utah for the lowest spending per student. He is happy, however, the governor saw fit to include a 5 percent boost in state employee salaries and funding for the University of Idaho's biotech building.

Among the things Schroeder would like to accomplish this session is a bill making it easier for the public to access the whereabouts of child molesters, which he introduced this week. The measure would allow the public access to the names and aliases of all registered sex offenders, a complete description of the individual, including date of birth, fingerprints and photographs, a list of offenses and the name and location of each hospital, jail or penal institution the individual has been involved with. The bill would also allow newspapers to print the photos of convicted sex offenders.

Moscow's two Republican House delegates, Rep. Tom Trail and Rep. Maynard Miller, list enhancing state employees' salaries as top priorities.

"We need to send a message that we do care about state employees," Trail said.

Both are members of the Changes in Employee Compensation Committee, or CEC, which will discuss Batt's plan for state employee salaries Tuesday. Batt has suggested increasing the payline for salary classifications by 2 percent, which would help employees on the low end of the pay scale but not assure employees in the middle of their classifications any salary increase, and using about $20 million for merit increases at the discretion of state agency management.

Miller would like to see a program, which he'll push at Tuesday's CEC meeting, including at least some increase for every state employee, a smaller payline shift than Batt suggests and a smaller percentage of the $20 million used for merit increases.

"This provides some funding, an upgrade for everybody," Miller said. "I wouldn't call it a raise, but this allows (state employees) to start getting paid for what they're already doing."

Miller also plans to propose a bill changing the way DUI offenders are treated, shifting the punishment from imprisonment to more restitution paid by the offender. Rather than putting drunk drivers in jail, at the expense of the state, Miller would use a combination of counseling, home arrest and electronic surveillance, with the drunk driver footing the bill.

Trail said he was disappointed Batt didn't suggest any state funding for Head Start, and plans on introducing legislation which would do just that.

Trail will also be pushing, along with Miller, for reducing the required number of votes to approve a school-building bond to 60 percent (from 67 percent) in order for districts with dilapidated school buildings to replace them a little easier.