Associated Students of Boise State University came to the capitol today to highlight inequities in university funding - the students said BSU gets only 67 percent of the per-student funding that the University of Idaho gets. "I want to be clear: This is not an…
The Senate Local Government & Taxation Committee has voted unanimously to send both HB 95 and HB 110, the remaining urban renewal bills, to the Senate's 14th Order for amendments. Over the past two days, the committee has taken testimony and worked on extensive amendments,…
Here's a link to another Idaho attorney general's opinion on the bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks on grounds of fetal pain, this one in response to several specific questions from Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, a physician. Among them: In Question 4, Schmidt asked…
Here's how Idaho House members voted on HB 222, the guns-on-campus bill, which passed 41-28 and now moves to the Senate: Voting in favor: Reps. Anderson, Andrus, Barbieri, Barrett, Bayer, Bedke, Bolz, Boyle, Burgoyne, Collins, Crane, DeMordaunt, Gibbs(Wheeler), Guthrie, Hagedorn, Hart, Hartgen, Harwood, Henderson, Loertscher,…
The House has voted 41-28 in favor of HB 222, the bill to prevent Idaho's colleges and universities from regulating or banning guns on campus other than in undergraduate residence halls. The measure now moves to the Senate.
Rep. Erik Simpson, R-Idaho Falls, in his closing debate on HB 222, said, "Our universities aren't perfect. There are crimes that occur there. ... These numbers represent people who are being disarmed, who cannot protect themselves." He said, "Ladies and gentlemen, gun-free zones don't work.…
Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, noted the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning the Washington, D.C. gun law. "What we're doing here, you got the college saying that people can't pack, and the Supreme Court saying no, they have a right to pack, even if they're…
Rep. Cherie Buckner-Webb, D-Boise, said she was glad to hear that it's already illegal to drink and carry a gun, but she said, "Unfortunately drinking leads to stinking thinking," and there's drinking on college campuses She urged against HB 222, the guns-on-campus bill. Rep. JoAn…
Rep. Erik Simpson, R-Idaho Falls, just told the House that in his view, open carrying of guns on college and university campuses already is legal, and colleges can't regulate it. That's legal under the state Constitution, he said, so his bill wouldn't change it. Rep.…
Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, questioned repeatedly by Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, who supported HB 222 in committee, has insisted in the House that the bill wouldn't change anything with regard to open carrying of guns on campus, and that it only addresses concealed weapons…
The House is debating HB 222, the guns-on-campus bill. "We've taken law-abiding citizens, citizens that want to do the right things, and we've criminalized their behavior because they don't know ... where those boundaries are," said Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian. Current law lets Idaho's colleges…
Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, has moved to send SB 1165, the bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks, to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass, and Sen. Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, seconded the motion. Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, made a substitute motion…
Here's a link to two Idaho Attorney General's advisory opinions, requested by Sen. Chuck Winder, sponsor of SB 1165, that raise questions about the constitutionality of his bill, SB 1165, to ban abortions after 20 weeks gestation on grounds of fetal pain. "Section 5 of…
Marty Durand, attorney for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, told the Senate State Affairs Committee, "We stand in opposition" to SB 1165. "The premise of this bill, that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks, is not a scientifically accepted fact," she said.…
Dr. Glenn Weyhrich, a Boise physician and head of OB/GYN at St. Luke's, told the Senate State Affairs Committee that to the best of his knowledge, there is currently no provider in Idaho who provides elective abortion beyond 16 weeks of gestation. Weyrich said most…
Teresa Collett, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, told the Senate State Affairs Committee that she believes "there is a substantial basis to believe that this law is constitutional and that it will recognize the humanity of…
Members of the Senate State Affairs Committee have been questioning Nebraska physician Sean Kenney about SB 1165, the bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Sen. Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, noted that U.S. Supreme Court decisions note a compelling interest for states to…
In Ohio, legislation has been proposed to ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, but that state's right-to-life group isn't supporting the bill because it says it would just be overturned as unconstitutional. "The heartbeat bill will not save any babies' lives because…
This morning, the Senate State Affairs Committee is in the Capitol Auditorium, holding a hearing on SB 1165, Sen. Chuck Winder's bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, based on new but disputed research showing fetuses feel pain at that point. "What we're…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
