Members of Occupy Boise today filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court, and U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill scheduled a hearing on it for 3 p.m. Friday. Bryan Walker, attorney for the group, said the group is trying to…
With Gov. Butch Otter's signing of the HB 404a today, banning camping on certain state lands, state Department of Administration Director Teresa Luna says she's sent notice to participants in the Occupy Boise encampment that they must be off the vigil site across from the…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's $5 million proposal to speed commercialization of university research into commercial products that boost Idaho's economy won a House committee's blessing. The Commerce Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to send…
Curt Fransen, deputy director of the Idaho DEQ since 2007, has been named the agency's director by Gov. Butch Otter. Current Director Toni Hardesty is leaving this week to become the Idaho director of the Nature Conservancy; Otter praised Hardesty as he named Fransen to…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says a proposed voter initiative to privatize Idaho's lucrative hard liquor business might be illegal because the Constitution says such decisions are the Legislature's purview. Since 1934, the Idaho…
The Senate Local Government & Taxation Committee has voted unanimously in favor of Rep. Frank Henderson's bill to offer a sales tax rebate for sophisticated parts installed in Idaho into out-of-state aircraft, after an hour-long hearing in which all the testimony was strongly in favor…
The House State Affairs Committee voted this morning to introduce a new version of Rep. Phil Hart's gold and silver currency bill, which declares that Idahoans may use gold and silver coins at face value as "legal tender" and "as an alternative to the Federal…
Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, is pushing HB 506 to further limit urban renewal, by removing any authority for eminent domain or condemnation, and by removing urban renewal agencies' power to enter and inspect properties within their projects. "We think it's time to maybe rein…
Today is the House's first afternoon floor session; as is its custom, the House went into session at 1:30, pushing back all the committee hearings that already were scheduled for that time. As a result, anyone waiting to testify at or observe one of those…
The House has voted 62-1 in favor of HB 490, which expands Idaho's Sunshine Law to cover recall elections, applying campaign finance reporting requirements and contribution limits to those votes just as to all other Idaho elections. "HB 490 is designed to close up a…
In a dramatic turnaround, the House has voted 40-27 in favor of HB 448 to raise fees to support the POST academy, which trains law enforcement officers, from the current $10 per criminal conviction to $15. Last year, the House defeated a proposal to raise…
Gov. Butch Otter has signed HB 404a into law, emergency legislation that bans camping on certain state land and effectively evicts the Occupy Boise encampment from state property across from the Capitol. "I will be communicating with the leadership and attorney from 'Occupy Boise' to…
The House Republican Caucus has wrapped up, but lawmakers haven't returned to their floor session; instead, said House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, they're planning to come back on the floor at 1:30 p.m. and work for about an hour, he said, before starting afternoon committee…
The Senate has recessed until 4:30 p.m., when it'll come back into session, likely until about 5:15, announced Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis. Meanwhile, the House GOP is still in a closed-door caucus, and has been for more than an hour. House and Senate Democrats…
GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will hold a town hall meeting in Coeur d'Alene on Thursday night, the Idaho Republican Party announced today. The event is set for 7:30pm at the Coeur d’Alene Inn, said Idaho GOP executive director Jonathan Parker. The former speaker of…
The Senate has voted 29-6 in favor of SB 1274, the bill to ban texting while driving, making it an infraction; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com. Among the comments in the Senate debate: "My cell phone won't text" - Sen. Monty…
The Idaho Senate has taken up SB 1274, the bill to ban texting while driving. "This bill specifically calls out texting as inappropriate and unsafe, and it provides guidance for those who might text that it's against the law," Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d'Alene, told…
Roger Batt, lobbyist for the Idaho Grape Growers and Wine Producers, told the House Revenue & Taxation Committee today that Idaho wineries were surprised last August to receive a letter from the Idaho State Tax Commission, telling them go through their records going back three…
From at least 1990 until 2008, Idaho held a joint meeting most years early in the legislative session of what was often called the CEC Committee, with CEC standing for Change in Employee Compensation; the joint committee consisted of the House and Senate Commerce committees,…
The House Revenue & Taxation Committee has voted 12-6 to introduce legislation to have Idaho join the streamlined sales tax project, which means conforming the state's sales tax definitions to standard ones - without changing anything about Idaho's tax - to position Idaho to be…
The House Revenue & Taxation Committee has spent another hour this morning asking questions about the streamlined sales tax bill, which would position Idaho to be able to tax Internet sales when Congress gives the go-ahead. Rep. Leon Smith, R-Twin Falls, moved to introduce the…
JFAC Co-Chair Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, responding to the House Education Committee's introduction of two resolutions today aimed at overriding JFAC on state employee raises, said, "Obviously it's incumbent upon JFAC to set the budgets, and those decisions generally involve our personnel. It was my…
Wayne Hammon, Gov. Butch Otter's budget chief, said called Rep. Steve Hartgen's introduction of legislation today to try to override JFAC and give state workers either 2 percent merit raises or zero raises next year "kind of a unique situation." Hammon, speaking in the JFAC…
The House Education Committee has voted to introduce two new bills seeking to override JFAC's earlier action setting state employee raises for next year at 2 percent. Rep. Stephen Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, proposed two bills, one for 2 percent merit raises, and the other for…
Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, moved to approve a budget for the Department of Environmental Quality next year that is very close to the governor's recommendation, but adds $50,000 each to restore funding for the Pend Oreille Lakes Commission and the Bear Lake Regional Commission. Both…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
