The governor's transportation funding task force has wrapped up its third all-day meeting, but it won't be proposing any road fixes in the upcoming Idaho legislative session. The panel set its next meeting for Feb. 18th. "They're not going to propose anything for this legislative…
The head of Idaho's POST Academy was fired on Nov. 5, the AP reports today, and the state didn't publicly acknowledge the dismissal until the Associated Press inquired about it this morning. Jeff Black, executive director of the academy and a former longtime state trooper,…
The Associated Press is reporting that the lawyer for Tamarack Resort, Steve Millemann, has asked a 4th District judge for permission to withdraw because the resort "no longer has funds available" to pay him. That's not a good sign for efforts by homeowners at the…
Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, said today that he'll announce his candidacy for the 1st District congressional seat on Monday, with announcements in Boise and Coeur d'Alene. Already in the GOP primary race is Iraq war veteran Vaughn Ward; state Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, dropped out…
Tom Cole, chief engineer for the Idaho Transportation Department, is presenting figures to the governor's task force on how much the state is falling behind on preservation and restoration of state and local roads and bridges. If our goal as a state were just to…
Light rail has been a big success in Salt Lake City, transportation consultant Tom Warne told Idaho's governor's transportation task force, in response to questioning from panel members including state lawmakers. The system has been largely funded by incremental increases in the sales tax in…
The governor's transportation funding task force got an overview of a "Utah case study," looking at what that state did to increase transportation funding. It started with a year and a half-long "growth summit" in 1995, which involved citizens across the state in envisioning how…
Transportation consultant Tom Warne is now reviewing what other states are doing to solve their transportation funding problems: Rental car fees - sometimes very significant ones; sales tax increases; tolls; vehicle taxes; state and local gas tax hikes; and more. However, more than half of…
The next transportation funding bill to pass Congress likely won't bring much of a bump to Idaho in funding, transportation consultant Tom Warne told Gov. Butch Otter's task force on transportation funding this morning. The bill likely won't be for as many years as past…
Idaho ranks 12th in the nation for relying on federal aid to fund its transportation program, according to transportation consultant Tom Warne, at 52 percent. State fuel tax supplies 26 percent, and registration fees, 13 percent. The least reliant states are Wyoming, 13 percent, and…
Toll roads are among the top proposals supported by the Obama Administration for increasing transportation funding, transportation consultant Tom Warne told Gov. Butch Otter's transportation task force, but, he said, "There are places like Idaho and Utah where there's probably limited opportunity for toll roads,…
Gov. Butch Otter's transportation task force has opened its third meeting this morning, with a full house. First up is a presentation from Tom Warne, former director of the Utah Department of Transportation and now a transportation consultant, on the regional and national transportation funding…