Here's a link to the final, updated version of my story today on the demise of SB 1387, the forced ultrasound bill. Among the comments from lawmakers included in the article: Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, a co-sponsor of the bill: "I think that the…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Foreclosure trustees would be banned from having financial interests in papers that run their legal notices, according to a bill that cleared the Senate. Tuesday's 28-6 vote sends the Newspaper Association of Idaho-backed…
Planned Parenthood has issued a statement hailing the failure of SB 1387, the forced ultrasound bill, calling the move "a victory for women in Idaho." Hannah Brass, the group's Idaho legislative director, said, “Now the legislature can return to spending the rest of the session…
After a 90-minute-plus hearing, the Senate Transportation Committee has killed HB 628a, the highway width bill, on a voice vote, but the committee also voted unanimously to call for an interim study committee on the topic. The bill, sponsored by House Assistant Majority Leader Scott…
House Democratic leaders have issued a press release blasting the decision to let the Senate-passed anti-bullying bill, SB 1358, die without a hearing in the House Education Committee. “I am dismayed that my Republican colleagues refuse to even let the bill be heard and debated,"…
Among the bills successfully amended in the House this afternoon: HB 670, Rep. Bob Nonini's bill to grant up to $10 million a year in tax credits to individuals or corporations for donations to "scholarship granting organizations" that would give scholarships for K-12 students to…
The Idaho Democratic Party has sent out a news release entitled, "Invasive Assault on Women Postponed Until After the Election," on the demise of SB 1387, the forced ultrasound bill. "Don’t forget that the Idaho Senate—despite unanimous Democratic opposition and a public outcry— already passed…
House Education Chairman Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, said he met with Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, and he was supportive of Nonini's new compromise version of Cameron's legislation to cancel future teacher pay cuts required by the "Students Come First" school reform laws, while…
Right to Life of Idaho has issued a press release saying it's pulling the proposed forced ultrasound bill. "Due to misconceptions about SB 1387, the complexity of this issue, and the lack of time left in the session, we have decided to pull Senate Bill…
The Senate has voted 31-3 in favor of HJR 2, the right-to-hunt amendment to the Idaho Constitution; that's more than two-thirds, so the House-passed measure now will go to voters in November. "This is a very important step that we're taking today, and an even…
Moving boxes are stacked up in the foyer of the House, the tried-and-true sign that the end of the legislative session is near. The House is about to recess to 1:30 p.m.; Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, explained that this is the time in the…
SB 1410, the public school budget, has passed the House on a 54-15 vote; the spending plan, the single largest piece of Idaho's state budget, earlier passed the Senate 31-4 and now heads to Gov. Butch Otter. Under the budget, state general funds for schools…
SB 1387, the mandatory ultrasound bill, is dead, House State Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, just confirmed. "I spoke with the right-to-life people this morning," he said. "They agreed that there's not much that can be done with the bill this year. ... We…
House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, speaking in favor of HB 693, the Capitol Mall rules bill, said, "There is no rule. When the next group comes, is it first come, first served? ... I think that we don't want to revert to the…
The House is debating HB 693, the latest bill dealing with the Capitol Mall grounds and their use; that's the site of the Occupy Boise vigil. Earlier this session, lawmakers passed legislation to ban overnight camping on the site, aimed at evicting the encampment, but…
With no debate, the Senate has voted 32-3 in favor of HB 678, the corrections budget for next year. The budget shows a 7.3 percent increase over this year in state general funds, which is an $11.4 million increase, but a drop in other funds…
Rep. Brian Cronin, D-Boise, tried a parliamentary maneuver in the House this morning to pull SB 1358, the Senate-passed anti-bullying bill, out of the House Education Committee, where Chairman Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, hasn't held a hearing on it. Nonini argued against the move. "I…
Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, said the compromise bill on teacher pay introduced in his committee this morning was negotiated "above my pay grade" by leadership. "Most of that compromise I think was worked out between House leadership and Senate leadership and the gentleman on…
The House Education Committee has voted unanimously this morning to introduce new compromise legislation on teacher salaries; it'll hold a full hearing on the bill tomorrow morning. House Education Chairman Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, said the only differences between his compromise bill and the earlier…
Several hundred people circled the Capitol in a silent march Monday evening against SB 1387, the bill to require Idaho women to undergo an ultrasound, in some cases through an invasive trans-vaginal procedure, before having an abortion. Here, Courtney Bohl of Boise, center, marches with…