Only one amendment was considered to HB 404, the anti-Occupy Boise bill: The one sponsored by Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, and seconded by Sen. Dan Johnson, R-Lewiston, to exempt college and university property from the bill's new camping ban on certain state property. “Now this is an amendment to an amendment,” Schmidt told the Senate. “The intent is the same.”

Said Schmidt, “The purpose of this amendment is to make sure the public universities and public colleges in the state of Idaho will not be included in this statute that is being considered. My discussions with universities as well as the Board of Education have said they are in favor of this exclusion. In my opinion, the drafters of this bill didn't think about this, and thus, we could, if this bill passes, eventually have unintended consequences. I don't think that's the intent of this bill, and I don't think that's the intent of this body.” But, he added, “We're going to find out.”

Then, the Senate voted on the amendment by voice vote, and it clearly failed – it sounded like the chamber's seven Democrats and very few others voted in favor of it; the Senate has 28 Republicans. The amendment had passed the same chamber last week. Now the bill will go back into line to be voted on as amended, taking the Senate back to where it was before today's exercise.

HB 404a, the bill to evict the Occupy Boise encampment from state land across from the Capitol by imposing a new camping ban on certain state property, has been referred back to the Senate's 14th Order for amendment by unanimous consent of the Senate. Sen. Dan Schmidt's proposed amendment, which would exempt colleges and universities from the new ban so they could choose to allow camping for soccer tournaments, swim meets and the like, is now an “amendment to the amendment.”

Former Idaho Sen. Joe Stegner of Lewiston, now the University of Idaho's chief lobbyist, said the U of I was fine with an amendment to the anti-Occupy bill proposed earlier by Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, to exempt state colleges and universities from the new camping ban on state property. “We're comfortable and if it passes, we would be fine with that,” Stegner said. “We did not initiate that effort.” That's because the university's general counsel thinks other laws might protect the university's abilities to manage it campuses, Stegner said, so the UI is “kind of neutral,” but, he said, “If that is the amendment and it goes through, the university community would appreciate the clarification.”

The amendment earlier passed the Senate, but then was lost on procedural grounds after a different amendment that replaced entire sections of the bill was approved. Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, who sponsored that other amendment, said the plan is to return to the Senate's amending order when the Senate reconvenes this afternoon to give senators a chance to reconsider that. Said Davis, “All I wanted to do was make sure that Sen. Schmidt had a more fair shot at this university amendment, that he is treated with the dignity that any senator is entitled to.”

Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― Lawmakers have stamped final approval on legislation to let out-of-state service members pay in-state tuition at Idaho's universities and colleges. The Idaho Senate voted 35-0 to approve the measure, HB 384, which allows members of the U.S. armed forces to meet residency requirements and pay in-state tuition immediately upon their return home. Under current law, these soldiers would have to live in Idaho for at least a year before they could pay in-state tuition. The difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition can mean thousands of dollars each year. Lawmakers have previously moved to allow out-of-state members of the Idaho National Guard to pay in-state tuition. The state Board of Education has said the absence of a similar fix for U.S. armed service members was an oversight.

Three bills making a series of mostly minor changes to all three of last year's “Students Come First” school reform laws have been introduced in the Senate Education Committee this afternoon at the request of Jason Hancock, aide to state schools Supt. Tom Luna. Meanwhile, another measure introduced in the House Education committee today would broaden the program's performance-pay bonus program so that teachers with fewer than three years of experience would be eligible; Rep. Mack Shirley, R-Rexburg, called the decision to exclude those new teachers from the bonus plan “unfair and unnecessary,” the AP reports. All four measures now await committee hearings.

After a smaller fee hike was killed in the House last year, the Idaho State Police persuaded the House Judiciary Committee to pass legislation today to shore up the dwindling budget for the Peace Officers Standard and Training (POST) Academy by increasing a current fee on offenders from $10 to $15, the AP reports. Last year's bill would have raised it by just $1.50. The bill, HB 448, now moves to the full House for a vote.

Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has offered to send Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber 150 wolves, saying his own state has a few of the predators to spare. Monday's offer came in a tongue-in-cheek letter where Otter sarcastically apologized to Kitzhaber after an Idaho hunter killed a wolf from an Oregon pack that strayed across Idaho's border to the east. On Feb. 2, the Idaho hunter killed a brother of an Oregon wolf that became a celebrity by wandering hundreds of miles into Northern California seeking a mate. Otter, no fan of the mid-1990s wolf reintroduction to central Idaho, offered Kitzhaber “my sincerest apologies.” Then, Otter said he'd have the Idaho Fish and Game Department round up another 150 wolves ― or any number Kitzhaber needed or was willing to take.

A second Democratic jobs bill was shot down today without even a public hearing, reports Lewiston Tribune reporter Bill Spence at his Political Theater blog; you can read his full post here. Spence reports that the House Revenue & Taxation Committee this morning voted 11-6 to return the bill to its sponsor, House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, rather than introduce it; the bill would have created a $500 “finder's fee” tax credit incentive for businesses that persuade their suppliers or partners to relocate to Idaho.

Three Republicans joined the committee's three Democrats in backing introducing the bill; they were outvoted. Last week, the House Business Committee voted against introducing another bill from Rusche that would have used state bonding authority to create a revolving loan fund for small businesses; both measures are part of legislative Democrats' “IJOBS 2.0” package of legislation this year aimed at creating jobs in the state.

“Washington has not changed me,” Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador declared today as he launched his bid for a second term in Congress. Here's evidence: The freshman congressman hasn't found himself a home to rent in Washington, D.C. while he's there - he's sleeping on his office couch instead, and returning to Idaho and his family each weekend. “I commute every week,” Labrador said. Asked how that's going, he said, “Planes are not my favorite thing - that's really the only tough part.”

Labrador is not alone among congressmen in choosing to bunk in his congressional office while in the nation's capitol. “There's people who have been doing it for over 10 years,” he said. Last year, Politico reported that retiring Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Michigan, slept on the couch of his Capitol Hill office for 17 years and nine months; he told Politico then, “I always figured I’d lose someday, but it’d never be because I’d gone D.C. and forgotten who I worked for.”

Labrador and his wife, Becca, looked at possible homes in the D.C. area for the family when he first was elected, but decided against getting a place, at least for now. “I have kids in high school,” he said. “I want to make sure they still have those Idaho roots.” Labrador said if re-elected, he'll continue sleeping on  his office couch for the next two years.
  

Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador announced his bid for a second term on the Statehouse steps today, flanked by more than 30 state lawmakers who served with him when he was a state representative and a bevy of the state's top GOP elected officials. Labrador said with the economy improving, “The government just simply needs to get out of the way.” He told an appreciative crowd of about 300, “I share your values and your vision for America.”

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, with whom Labrador clashed as a state lawmaker when Labrador led House opposition to Otter's proposed gas tax increase, laughingly ordered anyone in the audience who was wearing their red Labrador sticker on the left side to move it to the right. “We're talking about Raul Labrador here!” he declared. Otter said, “It's awfully important that we have a voice in Washington, D.C. that speaks loud and clear about the new Republicanism and the federalism that we believe in in Idaho. And Raul along with the rest of the delegation has been at the forefront for that.”

Labrador spoke proudly of his votes in Congress, including opposing reauthorization of the Patriot Act, supporting repeal of the national health care reform law, voting to block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, and opposing the National Defense Reauthorization Act because “it failed to clearly protect U.S. citizens from indefinite detention.” He also alluded to his recent televised scrap with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder during a congressional hearing over the “Fast and Furious” gun-trafficking investigation. “I don't think he will ever forget that I am from Idaho,” Labrador said. “And yes, Mr. Holder, to answer your question, that is how we do things in Idaho. We ask direct questions and we get direct answers.”

Labrador is being challenged in his bid for a second House term by Democrat Jimmy Farris, a former NFL football player and Lewiston native who's making his first run for office.

The Senate is now recessing until 4 p.m., the first time this session it's come back in for an afternoon session. “Remember, today is the last day for non-privileged committees to introduce legislation,” Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, told the Senate. So the Senate will reconvene at 4 to address those newly introduced bills. “In addition, there is a possibility that we will also go into the amending order this afternoon,” Davis said.

The Idaho House is holding its annual Lincoln Day commemorative program today; the Senate held its on Friday. Here, those portraying President and Mrs. Lincoln and their children make a presentation to the House; also part of the program are civil war re-enactors, former Idaho Lt. Gov. David Leroy and musical performances.

Senate Republicans have emerged from their closed-door caucus after 20 minutes; Caucus Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell, would say only that the confab was to discuss “procedural issues.” There were lots of discussions on Friday about amendments, rules and HB 404, the bill to evict the Occupy Boise vigil from property across from the state Capitol, which the Senate amended last week; that bill is now on the Senate's 3rd Reading calendar, which mean it's ready to come up for a vote, but it's far down the calendar.

The Senate has gone on recess midway through its floor session this morning for a closed-door Republican caucus…

New Idaho state Commerce Director Jeff Sayer made his first budget pitch to lawmakers this morning, and he noted that he's reorganized the department, with the advice of former Commerce Director Jim Hawkins, to eliminate duplication and get staffers back out in communities working on economic development. “We now have a 13 percent reduction in our workforce, and part of the objective of that was to find money,” Sayer told JFAC, to funnel into the department's top priority: Jobs.

He said the department's marketing division was “replicating efforts that the tourism division was already doing, and we were able to collapse four positions into one.” Two other divisions were eliminated in favor of creating a “business attraction team.” Sayer said the department is “becoming laser-focused on who our customer is, and we've declared to the world and ourselves that our customer is business, both existing and new, and we're doing everything we can to fulfill that obligation.”

First priority, he said, is “to protect and retain what we have - we have to remember that our companies are just as vulnerable to being recruited out of state as we are to recruit other states' companies into ours.” Second, he said, “Our fastest source of jobs is going to come from growing our own companies.” And third priority is attraction of new businesses to the state. One of Idaho's greatest strengths, he said, is the momentum it already has going in certain key industries. “It's in our best interest to focus on those industries,” Sayer said. That means spending time with business leaders in those sectors to “have them help us figure out who we need to recruit,” that would be “complementary to those industries and can help them grow even more.”

Sayer told lawmakers, “Many of you know I come from industry. I'm a CPA by background, I started my career in Silicon Valley with Ernst & Young. I spent most of my career with small- to medium-sized businesses and I have a little bit of experience in the ups and downs.”

He also shared some positive economic news: Idaho exports hit $5.89 billion in 2011, the third record year for exports in the last four years; they were up 14.3 percent from 2010. Tourism also has begun to pick back up after a dip during the economic downturn.

Rep. JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, is pushing legislation to declare the blue heeler the official state dog of  Idaho, but the House State Affairs Committee this morning rejected the bill on an 8-11 vote.

“I'm bringing to you a piece of legislation this family had brought to me and have asked for several years that we take a look at,” Wood told the House State Affairs Committee, introducing a constituent who gave an impassioned pitch for the blue heeler, noting its merits and that “the blue heeler is a common fixture of Idaho ranches, where it is said that one such dog will do the work of three cowhands.”

Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, said, “I appreciate the presentation here and the history that's contained here, but I guess I always have trouble with these kinds of bills. There's lots of dog lovers in the state, and they have lots of kinds of dogs that they love, and I hate to discriminate one over another.”

Rep. Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, said, “I appreciate that the blue heeler is a great dog for cattle people,” but he said sheep ranchers don't share those feelings. “The worst dogs to get in sheep, and from my experience, I've lost thousands and thousands of dollars … German shepherds and black labs and blue heelers are the worst,” Andrus said. “So I would certainly not like to enthrone the blue heeler as the state dog. If we want to have a state dog, I would think we ought to have some nice gentle dog like Lassie.”

Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, said blue heelers are the national dog of New Zealand and Australia, urged a full hearing on the bill, calling the blue heeler “an amazing dog,” but adding, “I'm biased also because we have one. … I do believe that the blue heeler has a great history here in Idaho that's probably greater than any other breed.” But he and the other eight backers were outvoted, and the panel refused to introduce the measure. It's the second state-symbol bill to be proposed so far this year; HB 451, proposed earlier by Rep. Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton, would declare “We Were Miners Then” by former Gov. Phil Batt to be the state poem, in commemoration of 40th anniversary of the 1972 Sunshine Mine disaster.

Idaho's state Tax Commission is giving its budget presentation to lawmakers this morning, and Commissioner David Langhorst said the initiative to step up collections of already-owed taxes has paid off in a big way for the state. In fiscal year 2012, the effort, which includes adding auditors, cost $1.4 million, and brought in $20.5 million in new revenue, Langhorst said; that's a 14.7 to 1 return. In fiscal year 2011, it's cost $1.5 million and brought in $26.3 million, a 17.1 to 1 return. Projections for this year are that the effort will cost $845,978 and bring in another $8.6 million, a 10.2 to 1 return.

“Any time you can put a dollar into something and get a $14 return, it tells you something,” Langhorst told JFAC. “We've phased those in and made the positions permanent. … These benefits will be ongoing. … When we have resources to do it, we will find ways to bring returns to the state.”

Langhorst said 84 percent of Idahoans pay their taxes voluntarily and on time. “When they know that we're going after those who don't, that increases voluntary compliance,” he said. “The more we do that, the more fair it is to everybody.”

For next year, the Tax Commission is requesting to make temporary staff added this year permanent, at an annual cost of $817,300; that includes 13.5 positions in audits and colelctions and three in revenue operations. Outgoing Tax Commission Chairman Bob Geddes, former Senate president pro-tem, said, “Great strides have been made to maximize efficiency and tax compliance.”
  

Laughing Dog microbrewery in North Idaho is “doing great business,” with 16 employees now and nine more jobs expected to be added by the end of this year, Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, told the Senate State Affairs Committee this morning, but the business has run up against a restriction in state law that would prevent a planned expansion. Keough introduced legislation today to ease that restriction, which prevents an owner of a brewery from having a financial interest in another facility that offers retail or a tasting room. “This bill seeks to fix that issue and it also seeks to mirror what exists, as I understand it, in our code for wineries,” Keough said. “It's very similar.”

“They've already sold more product as of this point this year than the entire year last year,” Keough said. “They distribute into 35 states and shortly will be distributing into Canada. … There are 24 breweries like Laughing Dog Brewery across the state. The owners of Laughing Dog Brewery would like to partner with some other folks and open a similar but different brewery in Post Falls. And in doing so, that would create another 16 to 25 jobs in northern Idaho.” But current law would block the move, she said.

Keough said she's been in talks with the Idaho Beer & Wine Distributors, and some compromise amendments may come forth; those issues could be discussed in a full hearing on the bill, she said. The committee voted unanimously to introduce the measure.

Under current state law, library districts that have recall elections are subject to the same signature-gathering requirements for petitions as counties, Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, told the Senate State Affairs Committee this morning. The problem with that: There are 54 library districts in Idaho, and only nine are countywide. Keough said in her North Idaho district, residents of a very small library district with only 1,007 eligible voters were told they'd have to gather 4,578 signatures to prompt a recall election, to meet the standard of 20 percent of the registered electors in the county. “That's more than four times the number of voters within the district,” Keough said. “That didn't seem right to me.” So she's proposed legislation to amend the requirements for special-district recall elections to match their boundaries.

After several questions on details of the bill, the committee voted unanimously to introduce it. “It's certainly not my desire to cause a proliferation of recall elections. It is my desire to try to make it fair and specific to those particular districts,” Keough said. “I am open to suggestions for how to make that work.”

It's a pundit-o-rama on “Idaho Reports” tonight, as nearly half the hour-long show is devoted to a discussion in which I join Jim Weatherby, Dan Popkey, Corey Taule and host Greg Hahn to chew over the events of the week, from “Add The Words” to Bill Sali to politics, the budget, and lawmaker pension-spiking; Taule joins the discussion from the IPTV studio in Pocatello. The program also includes Hahn's interviews with state parks chief Nancy Merrill; and with “8 in 6” plan advocate Rep. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, and his 17-year-old daughter Carli. The show airs tonight at 8 p.m. on Idaho Public Television; it repeats Sunday at 11 a.m. Mountain time, 10 a.m. Pacific; and will be replayed on Boise State Public Radio on Sunday at 6 p.m. After it airs, “Idaho Reports” also can be viewed online at www.idahoptv.org/idreports/.