Democratic congressional candidate Walt Minnick has issued a statement on fellow Democrat Larry Grant’s withdrawal from the race. “I am honored and humbled by Larry’s decision, and I will not let him or his supporters down,” Minnick said. “These are difficult times. Getting through them…
Larry Grant says it was “purely a strategic political decision” for him to drop out of the 1st District congressional race. “The object of this game is to take advantage of something that only happens every so often, which is a real opportunity to take…
Oops. Sen. John Goedde, sponsor of the bill to sharply increase Idaho’s fines for speeding in school zones, was caught speeding in a Boise-area school zone on Feb. 28 – the very day his bill was being debated in the state Senate. “There was some…
Mayors, counties, businesses and organizations from across the state are appealing to the Idaho Transportation Board to preserve funding for bikeways and pedestrian pathways, as the board looks at how to cope with a $200 million annual road maintenance shortfall that lawmakers didn’t address this…
For a politician whose party holds three-quarters of the seats in the Legislature, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter didn't get far with state lawmakers this year. He wasn’t helped by state revenues that plummeted after he unveiled an ambitious budget; missing a crucial month of the…
Former state Rep. Jim Hansen of Boise has been named the new executive director of the Idaho Democratic Party, replacing John Foster, who now works for the Walt Minnick congressional campaign. Hansen is an attorney who served three terms in the Idaho Legislature, headed the…
When House Speaker Lawerence Denney swung his gavel to adjourn the House sine die, all the representatives in the upper balcony tossed little paratrooper toys off the upper tier, which then floated down festively onto their colleagues below under small parachutes. “A little love from…
The Senate has just voted 23-11 in favor of HJR 5, the new constitutional amendment regarding local government debt – but that wasn’t enough. The measure needed 24 votes to have the needed two-thirds to ask voters to amend the constitution. So that measure is…
Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake just asked for unanimous consent to concur in the Senate amendments to HB 599a, and there was no objection – so it was unanimous. Now the House still must debate and take a final vote on the amended bill. The…
Senate Tax Chairman Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, just told the Senate, as he opened debate on the amended personal property tax bill, HB 599: “If you don’t know what this bill does at this point, you probably don’t deserve to be re-elected.” The comment was greeted…
The dreaded sheep tie has arrived and been placed around my neck, and it turns out to depict a black sheep standing out among the fluffy white ones. Meanwhile, the Senate has received the report of the conference committee, taken HB 599 to the 14th…
On the final day of the Legislature, the Idaho Senate has gotten itself embroiled in a protracted debate about primary election procedures. After moving SB 1507, the “call-for ballot” bill, to the 14th order for amendment, the Senate amended it to allow a party to…
In the end, the changes the House insisted on in the Senate-amended version of HB 599, the bill to repeal the personal property tax on business equipment, actually limited the tax break legislation further, rather than expanding it. “I’m very, very surprised at the House’s…
House Republicans on the conference committee so far aren’t too excited about splitting the difference to $87,500, and are pushing for sticking with their proposal of $100,000. They also want an economic “trigger,” and when Sen. Brent Hill asked if there’s general support for that…
“I get the sense we’re really not that far apart,” Sen. Brent Hill told the conference committee as it reconvened. “I’m very encouraged with the attitude of everyone here.”
So far, there’s possible agreement on the concept of maybe adding some kind of an economic trigger to allow the tax break to be put off if the state’s budget dips, but no agreement on the question of the interplay between the 3 percent budget…
Senate Majority Bart Davis, reading from Mason’s Rules, said his interpretation is that for the conference committee to reach an agreement, its report must be signed by a majority of the members from each house – not just a majority of the committee. That’s because…
Click below to read my full story from today’s Spokesman-Review on the fight over the personal property tax break that’s dominating the final days of this year’s legislative session. Meanwhile, Statehouse reporters have been wearing ugly ties for the past week and a half as…
The House has voted 43-25 to not concur in the Senate amendments to HB 599a, the bill to repeal the property tax on business equipment. Those amendments, which the Senate had approved unanimously, would have limited the business tax break to equipment valued at up…
Gov. Butch Otter has signed into law HB 586, the measure on vehicle emission testing to avoid federal sanctions in areas of the state with high levels of air pollution. “Clean air is among Idaho’s most precious resources,” Otter wrote in a signing message. “We…
The House has gone right into debate on SJR 107, the bill regarding local government debt and “ordinary and necessary” expenses. The Senate, meanwhile, has taken up the newly House-passed measure restoring most of the vetoed substance abuse treatment funds.
The Senate has voted 29-4 in favor of HB 680, to let developers set up “community infrastructure districts” to bond for public improvements related to new developments, with the bonds to be paid off by the future residents of the developments. Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg,…
The Senate Local Government & Taxation Committee just met, but HB 688, the local-option tax enabling legislation, had disappeared from its agenda. Instead, the committee quickly passed HB 691, the replacement for the tax-deed sale legislation that Gov. Butch Otter vetoed earlier, and finished its…
The House Revenue & Taxation Committee has voted 10-6 to recommend not concurring in the Senate amendments on the personal property tax repeal bill, HB 599, and instead calling for a conference committee to resolve differences between the House and the Senate. The panel’s five…
Now there’s talk of a possible conference committee to resolve differences between the two houses, should the House not concur in the Senate amendments to HB 599, the bill to repeal the personal property tax on business equipment. But there’s also talk that the Legislature…