Gov. Butch Otter and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna have both suggested that the Legislature might try to salvage some of the popular aspects of Students Come First, despite their rejection at the polls in November.

“If Butch and Luna reintroduce the three Luna laws or some variation of those, it could generate another firestorm that would eclipse anything that happened in 2011,” Boise comedian Pete Peterson said Tuesday.

If their aims are modest, however — for example, paying for high school students to earn college credits — Peterson said he will drop the recall idea.

“We’re prepared either way. We’ll re-evaluate things at the end of January.”

If Peterson launches a third attempt to force a recall vote, the effort would need to gather more than 158,000 signatures.

he filed paperwork last week with the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office, naming himself treasurer of the 2013 Luna Recall Committee. He said the committee has five members, but he declined to name the others.

The Idaho Education Association, which helped lead the effort to overturn the laws, is not taking a position on any possible recall, said President Penni Cyr. In 2011, the teachers union focused on gathering signatures in 2011 to put the propositions on the ballot and discouraged members from expending effort on a recall.

“It’s not about recalling a person,” Cyr said Tuesday. “It’s about the laws, about what’s needed and having the right voices at the table.”

Before collecting signatures in earnest, petitioners must submit language to the secretary of state, along with the signatures of 20 registered voters. They then have 75 days to collect the other needed signatures.

The first recall Peterson worked on, right after Luna’s school reforms were passed in 2011, fell more than 100,000 signatures short.

Peterson said he will host a 2013 campaign kickoff on Dec. 27 at Boise’s Liquid Laughs.

Dan Popkey: 377-6438, Twitter: @IDS_politics