House education chair Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, will not give a hearing to keep teacher pay whole for coming years, but instead introduced a measure Monday to do that for one year only.

The earlier bill, pushed by Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, would have stopped the teacher pay pool from being cut to pay for educational upgrades to Idaho classrooms, a major tenet of 2011’s education reforms.

Nonini, using a special perk given to committee chairmen, unilaterally killed Cameron’s measure, saying that he didn’t want to set forth a path the state couldn’t fund in coming years if revenues don’t meet expectations.

Instead, Nonini’s bill would keep the teacher pay pool whole for 2013. His legislation would cost $18 million next year if adopted.

That’s less than Cameron’s bill, sort of. The senator’s bill would cost about $35 million through the next five years, though it would cost the same amount, $18 million, for 2013.

Cameron has indicated he isn’t happy with the move. “Unbelievable!” Cameron tweeted Monday afternoon, complaining about Nonini’s certainty over a $35 million tax cut plan passed by the House a few weeks ago.