The long fight between the state’s universities over “funding equity” – meaning the University of Idaho was seen as getting more state money comparatively when other colleges were growing faster in student populations – ended this morning. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved a budget for…
House Speaker Bruce Newcomb announced today – on his 66th birthday – that he won’t seek re-election after this session, and will retire after 20 years in the House, eight as speaker. “I’m proud of the people I served with, the trust we developed and…
HB 743, the Republican House leadership’s bill to address school facility funding, cleared the House Education Committee this morning on a 16-2 vote, after a Democratic alternative, HB 691, failed on a 4-14 vote. Rep. Mack Shirley, R-Rexburg, said, “I don’t think either bill is…
HB 415, another campaign finance reform bill proposed by Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa, just passed the Senate 35-0, after earlier unanimously clearing the House. This one prevents campaign contributors from getting around contribution limits by giving from multiple subsidiaries – which has happened…
House Speaker Bruce Newcomb had the giggles today, as the House pages honored him on the occasion of his 66th birthday, reports S-R reporter Meghann Cuniff. The House took a break for the unusual bit of business, and the pages presented Newcomb with cupcakes glowing…
Plans to amend the state Constitution to make hunting, fishing and trapping a right rather than a privilege fell short in the Senate today, getting an 18-16 vote – well short of the two-thirds required to amend the Constitution. Among the concerns: If hunting is…
House and Senate pages are kept busy during formal floor sessions, delivering messages, carrying documents back and forth and so on, but they try to do so without interfering with the debates in any way. So when Rep. Janice McGeachin, R-Idaho Falls, rose to open…