Idaho's two congressmen split in last night's 332-94 House vote on a bipartisan budget deal, with 2nd District Rep. Mike Simpson voting in favor, and 1st District Rep. Raul Labrador voting against. The deal, brokered by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.,…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A north Idaho attorney convicted in an unsuccessful murder-for-hire scheme has filed a malpractice lawsuit aimed at the lawyers who represented him in his federal trial. Sixty-eight-year-old Edgar Steele was convicted in 2011…
Nonviolent offenders are staying behind bars in Idaho twice as long as they do in the rest of the nation. That’s among the major findings of a nine-month study into how Idaho could spend its money better and get better outcomes from its criminal justice…
Idaho Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, broke a hip while vacationing in Hawaii this week, but he says he’ll be up and going in time for the start of the legislative session on Jan. 6. “Oh, absolutely – I won’t miss it,” Henderson said from…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's insurance exchange will begin its paid marketing campaign after Dec. 20, a delay of more than a month. Still, don't expect to see Your Health Idaho television advertising over Christmas. Consultants told…
Award-winning NBC journalist and author Jonathan Alter offered this thought in his keynote speech last night at the annual Frank Church Conference on Public Affairs at BSU, which had a theme this year of “Watching the Watchers: Security vs. Liberty”: “The government knows a lot…
Boise Republicans Wednesday invited Rep. Mark Patterson to a meeting next week where he could be asked to resign, the AP reports. The session, at an as-yet undisclosed Boise location, is meant as a forum for party officials to discuss the furor surrounding the revocation…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how Gov. Butch Otter today continued to tamp down expectations for the election-year legislative session that will convene on Jan. 6, just months before Idaho’s May 20 primary election. Addressing the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho,…
House Speaker Scott Bedke predicts that the upcoming legislative session won’t address a big backlog in maintenance funding for the state’s roads and bridges, in part because he said people in his region don’t seem concerned about the roads. “We don’t have clear consensus on…
To Alec Williams, an Idahoan who is deployed overseas but follows Idaho politics from afar through this blog: Thanks for reading! And your dad says Hi.
Three panelists at the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho conference today are addressing the state’s new partial personal property tax exemption for business property, which exempts up to $100,000 in value per taxpayer, per county. “A lot of people thought, $100,000 per taxpayer per county, how…
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo is drawing some second looks this week, but not necessarily because of his comments in the Senate. Instead, it’s the rather dramatic facial injury he’s sporting. “He took a fall while moving furniture at his Idaho Falls home the day after…
Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little says he’s hearing a lot of anger from Idahoans across the state. “For the last five or six months, I’ve been all over Idaho, I’ve been to nearly every county, and I’ll tell you, they’re mad – they’re mad about…
Jani Revier, Gov. Butch Otter’s budget chief, told the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho today, “We expect a conservative budget that doesn’t over-commit.” She said, “The good news is that general fund revenues are recovering from the recession. … The general fund is forecasted to return…
Scott Anderson, president and CEO of Zions Bank, said there were five reasons his company decided to expand in Idaho, the reasons “we decided to make significant investment in this new building just up the street,” the nearly finished office tower at 8th and Main…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Boise State has hired Bryan Harsin as the Broncos head football coach. Boise State athletic director Mark Coyle made the announcement official Wednesday, calling Harsin one of the top young coaches in the…
Wayne Harper, a Utah state senator and president of the Streamlined Sales Tax project’s governing board, told the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho conference this morning that the move in Congress to enable states to collect sales tax on online sales doesn’t mean a tax increase.…
Here's a news item from the Associated Prss: A person familiar with the decision tells The Associated Press that Boise State has hired Arkansas State's Bryan Harsin as its next coach. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the move had not become official.…
Gov. Butch Otter told more than 400 local officials, legislators, lobbyists and others gathered for the 67th Associated Taxpayers of Idaho conference today that the headline for his agenda for the upcoming legislative session should be “More of the Same.” “I would rather be a…
The latest numbers are out for enrollment in health care plans through the YourHealthIdaho.org exchange, and 1,730 Idahoans have now enrolled in plans, up from 338 at the last report Nov. 13. Another 1,854 applicants were determined to be eligible for Medicaid. Applications have been…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho motorists are finally getting a break at the gas pump. AAA Idaho reports that gasoline prices have dipped below the national average. The state's 26-cent drop in prices in the last 30…
More than 85 supporters gathered to cheer chief deputy Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane this evening as he announced his candidacy for Idaho Secretary of State – and to sample free BBQ provided by a candidate who’s also a national BBQ champion. Among GOP notables…
Kendra Wisenbaker, a 5th grade teacher in the Meridian School District, says she taught the American revolution differently to her class this year, in line with the new Idaho Core Standards. “My kids have never been so excited about the American revolution, because we’re tying…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho inmate has been ordered to serve 33 months in prison and repay more than $59,000 collected by purporting to be a claimant in class-action lawsuits and bankruptcy settlements across the country.…
The state and several of its largest school districts are at odds about using a new, eight-hour exam on Idaho’s third-through 11th-grade students this spring, Idaho Education News reports; the districts want to rely on other year-end tests, including the SAT – which all Idaho…
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