Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's proposed $35 million income tax cut will be in the hands of the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee Thursday morning. But its fate remains uncertain. During Wednesday's behind-closed-doors Senate Republican caucus meeting, committee chairman Sen. Tim Corder of Mountain Home agreed to give Otter's tax relief bill a hearing. That's despite Corder's misgivings that Idaho's finances aren't strong enough to merit the relief — and that it provides only $71 for families earning $100,000. Corder will oppose the cut. Meanwhile, one of the nine-member committee's swing votes, Republican Sen. Jim Hammond of Coeur d'Alene, is leaning toward supporting Otter. But Hammond says he's gathering information about whether the state can afford it. The Idaho House has already passed the measure, one of Otter's 2012 priorities.