Gov. Butch Otter has scheduled his long-promised “water summit” for April 17th in Burley. “The Idaho Supreme Court’s March 5 ruling that the state has authority to manage ground water and surface water as a single resource cleared the way for that summit to occur,”…
Kurt Douglas, an engineer at Micron Technology, is filling in for Boise Sen. Elliot Werk today. In the Senate, Douglas spoke out on the school budget and the 3 percent vs. 5 percent for raises. “Five percent of an apple is always going to be…
The Senate has just adjourned until tomorrow in memory of former Rep. Janet Miller, R-Boise, whose funeral is this afternoon. The former lawmaker and longtime Republican activist died last week of cancer. Both houses are adjourning early today to allow lawmakers to attend her funeral.
The Senate has passed the remaining pieces of the public school budget – a key move toward finishing up the legislative session. The bills still need House approval and the governor’s signature to become law. Objections to the budgets came from a handful of senators,…
The news yesterday about the prospects for ending this now-overdue legislative session was almost too depressing to post – there was none. House Speaker Lawerence Denney said at noon that he hadn’t spoken with the governor since the previous Wednesday. This morning’s JFAC meeting was…
The Senate State Affairs Committee has agreed on a party-line vote to introduce legislation changing Idaho’s primary election system. Under the proposed plan, Idahoans would have to register with a political party, but they could choose ‘independent’ and still vote in primary elections. However, their…
House Democrats have drafted legislation to ban legislators from being paid as legislative lobbyists for a year after they leave the Legislature, and House Minority Leader Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, said the bill will be considered next week in the House Ways & Means Committee. “We…
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge has set Joseph Duncan’s trial on federal kidnapping, murder and child-molesting charges for next January, splitting the difference between the prosecution’s request to start the trial in July and the defense’s to put it off until August of 2008. The…
Although Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, has been teased by fellow lawmakers about his concerns about state agencies' use of vehicle fleets, he wants to contact every state agency over the summer and submit a report on vehicle use to the Legislature next year, Parker…
But we won’t be. That was the message House Majority Leader Mike Moyle just gave the House. “You guys have done a really good job today and we’re caught up, we really could be done tomorrow. But there’s a few things in the wings,” he…
Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, said of Gov. Butch Otter’s veto of the bill to ban smoking in Idaho bowling alleys, “I don’t think it has anything to do with me.” Hill, the Senate tax chairman, was the lead Senate sponsor of the smoking bill –…
Lawmakers have gotten a lot of mileage out of criticism by Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, of vehicle fleets used by state agencies, Parker Howell reports. Last week, Nonini voted against a Department of Health and Welfare funding bill, arguing that he sees unused vehicles…
Gov. Butch Otter has just vetoed HB 121, the bill to ban smoking in Idaho bowling alleys. “Given legislative concerns about ‘social engineering,’ particularly in regard to my proposal for targeted expansion of the grocery tax credit, in the interest of consistency it seems reasonable…
Just before the vote on the tribal fuel tax bill, HB 249a, Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, asked to have the Senate put at ease and a big brouhaha among leaders from both parties ensued, with rule books waving. The problem? Sen. Lee Heinrich,…
The Senate Republican caucus has emerged after long hours in caucus debating over the GARVEE bonding plan. “We’ve got a ways to go, but we’re talking about doing something with GARVEE,” said Caucus Chairman Brad Little, R-Emmett. Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, said he’s glad…
After dealing with topics such as restricting Idaho's primaries and making English Idaho's official language, the House State Affairs Committee tackled a less controversial topic this morning, reports Parker Howell: who showed up to meetings earliest. Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, distributed prizes to the earliest…
The House has voted 53-17 against concurring in Senate amendments to HB 74, which originally was an innocuous tax break for a specific charity on airplanes it uses overseas in charitable missions, but had been remade in the Senate into a bill to stop Cabela’s…
The Senate was creeping toward HB 249a on its calendar this afternoon – the highly controversial bill to impose the state’s gas tax on Indian reservation fuel sales if tribes don’t reach agreements with Gov. Butch Otter by Dec. 1. At the same time, leaders…
Here are a few North Idaho lawmakers’ reactions to the governor’s veto of the grocery tax relief bill:Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, said, “I think should this veto survive, it might give more impetus to considering real grocery tax reform down the road,” such as…
Gov. Butch Otter has vetoed the grocery tax relief bill that lawmakers in both houses earlier passed by overwhelming majorities. “It’s the wrong thing to do,” Otter told The Spokesman-Review. “It spends $11 million more than we wanted to.” He said “the most obvious and…
The governor’s office confirms that Gov. Butch Otter has vetoed HB 81a, the bill to increase the grocery tax credit – the one that won final passage in the Senate unanimously and the House with just six no votes. The veto message is expected out…
The Senate has voted 23-8 in favor of legislation rejecting stricter septic system rules for North Idaho, reports S-R reporter Parker Howell. Concerned that Panhandle Health District rules will hinder development by requiring larger drain fields and septic tanks, especially on expensive lakefront property, Panhandle…
The House has given final passage to tougher requirements for new teen drivers on a 55-12 vote, but not without plenty of concerns and personal anecdotes, reports S-R reporter Parker Howell. When several legislators expressed concern that new restrictions on unrelated passengers would hinder teens…
A bill increasing Idaho's personal grocery tax credit to $60 quietly passed the House this morning, leaving only Gov. Butch Otter to sign off on the measure. Otter originally requested more relief targeted toward low-income Idahoans, and it's unclear whether he will veto it sometime…
A troop of young Irish dancers rocked capitol reporters today – literally, reports Parker Howell. The Treasure Valley girls from the An Daire Academy of Irish Dance performed in the first-floor Statehouse rotunda in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, ringlets flying, shaking the reporters’ work…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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