At the close of business today, 73 candidates had filed to run for the state Legislature so far; you can see the full list here. Candidate filing runs through March 9. Among this afternoon's additions: Former gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell has filed to run against…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how Idaho’s House transportation chairman, who successfully pushed a bill through the House last week to shut off parking meters around the state Capitol during legislative sessions, didn’t disclose that his 24-year-old son has gotten…
When House Transportation Chairman Joe Palmer opened debate in the House last week on his bill to shut off parking meters around the Statehouse during the legislative session, he said, "I'll just let everybody know up front that this is about parking and parking tickets,…
The Senate Education Committee has approved SB 1331 on a unanimous voice vote; it would halt all future cuts to state teacher salary funds now required by the "Students Come First" school reform law to fund the technology and performance-pay bonuses the law requires. The…
Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, is pitching SB 1331, his bill to reverse the future cuts in state teacher salary funds required by the "Students Come First" reform law, to the Senate Education Committee this afternoon. "As long as I've been here, public schools…
Nate Fisher, head of Idaho's Office of Species Conservation since 2001, has resigned, reports Idaho Statesman reporter Rocky Barker; you can read his full post here. Barker reports that Fisher said he's had an "uphill battle lately" on endangered species issues.
Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, chairman of the House Revenue & Taxation Committee, won't run for re-election, reports Clark Corbin, reporter for the Idaho Falls Post-Register. Corbin tweeted, "He will not seek re-election. Formal announcement coming today." Lake, 74, is in his 8th term in the…
Occupy Boise member Mary Reali called today's federal court ruling - which upholds the state's new ban on camping on state property, but blocks removal of the Occupy Boise tents on 1st Amendment grounds - "a victory for our freedom of speech, for what we…
The filing period opened today for state legislative offices, and so far, 22 incumbents and two challengers, Kent Marmon of Caldwell and Doyle Beck of Idaho Falls, brother of GOP activist Rod Beck of Boise, have filed to run; the Idaho Secretary of State's office…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A plan to restore funding protections for school districts with enrollment declines is getting a hearing in the 2012 Idaho Legislature, though it'd be at districts' own expense. The state previously let shrinking…
The House has voted 49-19 in favor of HB 481, Rep. Bob Nonini's bill to lift the cap on the number of new charter schools that can be created each year. The bill would lift both the six-per-year statewide cap, and the one-per-school-district cap. Nonini,…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on today's introduction in Idaho of legislation to require an ultrasound before any Idaho woman could have an abortion; similar legislation caused a brouhaha before being withdrawn in Virginia last week because of the prospect that…
Asked Gov. Butch Otter's reaction to today's ruling on the Occupy Boise encampment, Jon Hanian, press secretary for Otter, said, "We just received it about an hour and a half ago. ... Obviously we're going to follow the law and the judge's order." The governor…
Gov. Butch Otter's IGEM initiative, a $5 million push to speed commercialization of university research into commercial products, has passed the House on a 63-2 vote, with just Reps. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, and Lenore Barrett, R-Challis, objecting. The bill, HB 546, now moves to…
The Senate has voted unanimously, 34-0, in favor of SJR 106, which would amend the state Constitution to add a right to hunt, fish and trap. To amend the constitution, the measure must pass both houses by a two-thirds margin and then receive majority approval…
U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill wrote in his Occupy Boise decision today, "The Court directs the state to delay until March 2, 2012, the seizure of any personal belongings at the encampment to give all parties a chance to read, understand and comply with this…
"Occupy Boise's tent city is a political protest of income inequality," writes U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill in his decision today, which blocks the state from removing tents on the site on 1st Amendment grounds, but upholds the state's new ban on camping there. "Once…
U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill's ruling is out, and he's granted the Occupy Boise motion in part, and denied it in part. What that means: The state would be enjoined from removing "the symbolic tent city erected by Occupy Boise," but Occupy Boise participants would…
Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Meridian, said the original version of his pre-abortion ultrasound bill specifically mentioned the use of a wand inserted into the patient's vagina, the method by which very early-term ultrasounds before six to eight weeks of gestation, must be conducted in order to…
The Senate State Affairs Committee has voted on party lines to introduce legislation requiring any Idaho woman who has an abortion to first have an ultrasound. "Because ultrasound is a key element of informed consent, it should be required that a woman have that before…
Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, proposed a non-binding memorial to Congress this morning opposing federal requirements that health insurance cover contraception or sterilization. "This is the greatest attack on our rights since Roe vs. Wade in 1973 condoning the abortion of the unborn child," she told…
An effort by Sen. Lee Heider and Rep. Jim Patrick, both Twin Falls Republicans, to insert an extra $25,000 in state general funds into the budget for the Office of Species Conservation for next year for travel related to meetings about heading off potential listing…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has set a budget for Idaho Fish & Game for next year that appears to show a 20.5 percent increase in total funds, but that's largely because of a $13 million federal grant to construct the Springfield Fish Hatchery. Aside from…
Legislation that caused a brouhaha before being withdrawn Virginia is up for introduction in Idaho this morning, requiring an ultrasound before an Idaho woman could have an abortion; the issue is that at very early stages of pregnancy, a regular abdominal ultrasound doesn't provide a…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
