It did all of this in a single day in September.

To place the question on the ballot was weird. Voters normally decide on citizen initiatives or constitutional amendments, but not whether to send high fives or pats on the back for legislative actions that are a done deal.

A ballot initiative that would have forced the stingy state to up its funding game on education was gaining popularity going into the fall and legislators knew it. The Legislature, which historically has had a real aversion to being told what to do by voters, succeeded in knocking Reclaim Idaho’s education initiative off the ballot with its September surprise.

And the tax rebates? Well, they sure did come in handy when they started going out just weeks before the election. And the advisory question didn’t seem nearly as craven as campaign slogans that could have chirped, “Vote for Republicans. The checks are in your mail!”

Idaho Gov. Brad Little, who won his second term, continued the advertising campaign in comments this week before the Idaho Taxpayers Association.

He touted the 80% approval that voters gave the question. He called it a mandate, and said, “. . . we will continue down the path and continue to invest in our children.”

There’s never been a question about whether Idaho needed to invest more in education and school construction. It needs a whopping $847 million just to get all of its schools into “good” condition, according to a state report.

A panel of Idaho CEOs at the same conference suggested that instead of cutting taxes, the state should spend more on education and tackle the shortage of daycare for kids. These would help parents and the companies that are desperately short of workers.

Candidates for office and their supporters are prohibited by law from “electioneering” within a proscribed distance near polls on election day. But a pitch for affirmation of the Republican-dominated Legislature’s actions somehow ended up on every single ballot.

Will legislators next ask voters to select among emojis—smiley faces, frowny faces, a face crying its eyes out—on electronic ballots to express their feelings about their actions?

Are legislators really so insecure and needy that voters have to prop up their egos with ballot therapy?

Legislators should keep the ads, aka “advisory questions” like this one, off ballots and in their stump speeches where they belong.

“Our View” represents the opinion of the newspaper editorial board, which is made up of members of its board of directors. Remarks may be directed to editorialboard@mtexpress.com.