Official caucus results from the Idaho GOP now show 22 of Idaho's 44 counties reporting, with 21 of those going to Mitt Romney, and one, Lewis County, going to Rick Santorum - but the results there were just 44 for Santorum, 25 for Romney, and…
Now 12 Idaho counties have reported their GOP caucus results, and Mitt Romney remains way ahead with 76 percent, but still, all the counties are in southern and southeastern Idaho; Bannock County, population 83,000, is the largest reporting so far. Ada County, by contrast, has…
The Spokesman-Review's Election Center is posting Idaho's county-by-county GOP caucus results as they come in on a map of the state; a look at it now shows that with 16 percent of the tally in, from seven counties, Mitt Romney is way ahead with 77.7…
KTVB-TV is reporting that the first county results are in from tonight's Idaho GOP presidential caucuses, and they're from Gooding County, where Mitt Romney was the runaway winer. The results: Romney, 58% (299 votes) Santorum, 17% (86 votes) Paul, 16% (84 votes) Gingrich, 9% (47…
Voting in the Idaho Republican presidential caucus has started in some parts of Idaho, including the first round in Canyon County and other small southern Idaho counties, reports AP reporter John Miller; click below for his full report. In Ada County, organizers closed the doors…
North Idaho legislators have been grousing that they're disenfranchised - even though the Legislature wrapped up early today and will start late tomorrow, it would've taken them a day and a half to fly home and back for their county GOP presidential caucuses, and most…
Big crowds are being reported tonight at GOP presidential caucuses in Ada, Canyon, and Twin Falls counties, as Idaho's first GOP presidential caucuses kick off tonight in all 44 counties. Meanwhile, those rumors that Ron Paul might show up in Ada and/or Canyon counties have…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the demise today of legislation to create an independent ethics commission in Idaho. Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, said, "We put together a working group, and it didn't function quite as well as we…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A majority of the Idaho Land Board is against a plan to place limits on the kind of investments it can make. Department of Lands spokeswoman Emily Anderson says the board voted 3-1…
During today's Idaho Press Club Headliner luncheon, House Speaker Lawerence Denney was asked about the prospect of the "Add The Words" legislation coming up in the House; the Senate State Affairs Committee earlier refused, along party lines, to hold grant the bill a hearing. It…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A bill in the Idaho House would restore a sliver of the cuts made to Idaho's health insurance program for the poor, elderly and disabled. State spending on Idaho's Medicaid program was reduced…
Can Ron Paul win Idaho in tonight's first ever Idaho GOP presidential caucuses? Marc Johnson's "The Johnson Post" takes a look at the question today, writing that despite the endorsement of Mitt Romney by much of Idaho's GOP establishment, "The insurgent wing of the Idaho…
House Speaker Lawerence Denney told the Idaho Press Club today, "I think we're at the point where we're ruling out the independent ethics commission." A bipartisan House-Senate working group couldn't reach agreement, and there were separation of powers issues with the question of whether a…
House Speaker Lawerence Denney said by his last count, "I think there are 23 now, and maybe 24" House members who won't be returning next year, either because they're retiring from the Legislature or running to the Senate. He joked, "Bruce Newcomb always told me…
Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill spoke proudly to the Idaho Press Club of the bill that passed the Senate unanimously to erase the requirement from the "Students Come First" law that teacher salary funds be cut each year to pay for reforms including merit-pay bonuses…
Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill and House Speaker Lawerence Denney are addressing the Idaho Press Club today, and Denney, mentioning the $35.7 million income tax cut bill that's passed the House, said, "I'm sure that the Senate will be taking that up and probably improving…
Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, presented possible amendments to HB 486, the bill to ban minors from using tanning beds in Idaho, and told the House Health & Welfare Committee, "I would ask your wisdom" on whether the amendments should be added to the bill. They…
Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, said Idaho Freedom Foundation lobbyist Wayne Hoffman's contention that dermatologists would profit from banning minors from using tanning beds is "somewhat confusing at best, because the dermatologists make their living by examination and treatment of skin diseases, and this bill certainly…
The House Health & Welfare Committee has convened to reconsider HB 486, the bill to ban minors from using tanning beds, after the measure earlier passed the committee, and then committee Chairman Janice McGeachin, R-Idaho Falls, pulled it from the House floor in mid-debate because…
The Idaho House spent close to an hour passionately debating HJM 11, Rep. Pete Nielsen's non-binding memorial calling for a constitutional convention to amend the U.S. Constitution to require that any increase in the federal debt would require approval from a majority of states' legislatures.…
The Idaho Senate has voted unanimously, 34-0, to adopt the 2012 Idaho Energy Plan as proposed by a legislative interim committee; HCR 34 previously passed the House on a 56-9 vote. The new plan updates Idaho's last energy plan from five years ago; it includes…
The House has voted 49-21 in favor of HB 496, legislation to exempt all military members or veterans from hunter education requirements to get state hunting licenses, a measure opposed by Idaho's Fish & Game Commission. Several veterans in the House spoke against the bill.…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: The final two over-legal loads of oil field equipment at the Port of Lewiston in Idaho are scheduled to hit the road Tuesday night, weather permitting. Imperial Oil spokesman Pius Rolheiser says the company moved three loads…
Idaho's state Agriculture Department would see a 15.8 percent increase in state general funds next year, under a budget set by JFAC this morning, but that's largely because the Legislature is continuing to fund the Eurasian water milfoil containment program on a one-time basis. That…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, on a unanimous vote, has set a budget for the state Department of Parks & Recreation for next year that reflects a 1.1 percent increase in state general funds, but a 5.4 percent decrease in total funds; the department has lost…