The co-chairs of the Legislature's joint budget committee have announced a plan to educate lawmakers about the federal economic stimulus money and its possible impacts on Idaho's state budget, even as Gov. Butch Otter convenes his own executive committee to sort through the same thing…
“It costs us an awful lot to take care of those who violate us out in the community,” Sen. Denton Darrington, the Senate judiciary chairman, told the joint budget committee this morning. “… Those who commit horrible crimes, it’s very expensive to take care of.…
Senate Judiciary Chairman Denton Darrington, R-Declo, told the Joint Finance-Appropriations committee this morning, “I think there is a limit to how far we ought to go with our prison beds being in private hands.” Even big prison states like Texas are at about 35 percent…
The fight between the Idaho Republican Party and the state over whether the state's primary elections can be closed to all but registered party members - Idaho has no official party registration - arrived in federal court in Boise for arguments on Wednesday. Click below…
Idaho’s state Tax Commission would be required to hold additional hearings on the controversial secret tax deals a whistleblower exposed last spring and submit annual reports on them to the governor and state Legislature, under legislation a Senate committee unveiled this afternoon. “We’re still awaiting…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the stimulus-mouse flap, and here's a statement from Brad Hoaglun, Sen. Jim Risch's spokesman:"The reality is the stimulus bill is so large and pushed through so fast that no one really knows conclusively what will…
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office says there is no truth to Idaho Sen. Jim Risch's contention today that the federal stimulus package contains $50 million to save the "red-breasted harvest mouse" in Pelosi's California district. Drew Hammill, spokesman for Pelosi, called the story about the…
Avista Corp. and the Idaho Public Utilities Commission brought legislation today to allow utilities to voluntarily provide assistance to struggling low-income customers, and seek approval from the PUC to adjust their rates to cover the cost. "The need is urgent - it's real," Neil Colwell,…
It took a bit of explaining, but the Senate State Affairs Committee signed on this morning to a House-passed resolution rejecting a rule from the state Lottery Commission that operators of the Coeur d'Alene Greyhound Park say would force them to shut down their three-day-a-week…
Here's a news item from AP: 'Idaho state government retirees would be moved to private insurance plans according to a measure that cleared a House committee where a similar bill stalled a year ago. The Department of Administration made several changes to the bill including…
U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, addressing the Idaho Senate today where he once presided as lieutenant governor and as president pro-tem, hauled out the actual printout of the congressional stimulus bill - all 1,100 pages of it - and slapped it on the lectern. "If you…
House Appropriations Chairwoman Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, just commented, "It seems like all the air's gone out of our balloon." The panel, which wrapped up its agency budget hearings this morning and began hearing from chairs of germane committees on their budget recommendations, normally would move…
Blake Hall, administrator of the state Catastrophic Fund, which helps counties cover medical costs for indigents by covering the bills beyond $10,000 per case, told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning that the fund is $2.5 million short for the rest of this fiscal year,…
The Sandpoint area is in "desperate" economic straits, and tourism businesses there aren't getting their fair share of state tourism grants, the local chamber head, Amy Little, told state lawmakers today. She and Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, proposed legislation to give counties a share of…
Gov. Butch Otter has issued an executive order creating a "stimulus executive committee" to study the federal economic stimulus and make recommendations within 30 days on how Idaho should spend the money. That could mean a considerably longer legislative session, as lawmakers must set a…
Gov. Butch Otter will take his time figuring out what Idaho's share of the federal stimulus will be, AP reporter John Miller reports - a move that could delay budget-setting for next year and likely prolong the 2009 legislative session. Click below to read Miller's…
Idaho's senior U.S. Senator, Mike Crapo, addressed the Senate and House today, and was held up for about 10 minutes in the Senate as that chamber wrapped up a hot debate on sewage rules. "I think I just interrupted a debate on septic tanks," Crapo…
It was quite a debate for a resolution rejecting an agency rule, but the Senate has voted 27-7 to reject a Department of Environmental Quality rule, approved 6-1 by that agency's board, to stiffen requirements for new septic systems to protect water quality. You can…
State Schools Supt. Tom Luna was prepared to go to the mat with his fellow state Land Board members this morning to try to get an additional one-time, $30 million payout from the state endowment to ease Idaho schools through budget cuts next year, but…
State Labor Director Roger Madsen told lawmakers this morning, “The recession hit Idaho harder and faster” than other states. “After posting the lowest unemployment rate in the nation in 2007 … no state has seen as large a percentage increase in its unemployment rate as…
Here’s a link to my full story in today’s Spokesman-Review on the unanimous introduction yesterday of the new day-care licensing bill – the fifth straight year one has been proposed – and here’s a link to my full story on the reception in Rev &…
Gov. Butch Otter is planning to be back in the saddle - literally - by this spring, and riding on the rodeo circuit again by summer, reports Dan Popkey of the Idaho Statesman. Otter, 66, just returned to work last week from major shoulder surgery…
The room was as packed as it could be at the Senate Health & Welfare Committee today, where there were a whopping 12 bills on the agenda for introduction. It's the final day for introducing bills in non-privileged committees; the Senate plans to go back…
Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, says the first effect of the new federal economic stimulus legislation's passage could be that Idaho doesn't have to make two big transfers from its public education stabilization fund - one that's in HB 61 and already passed the…
HB 61, the legislation that makes Gov. Butch Otter's 4 percent holdbacks, or mid-year budget cuts, permanent, passed the House 68-1 a week ago, but when it came up for a vote today in the full Senate, Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, asked to…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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