The Senate is now at ease, and members are milling around, awaiting SB 1134aa, the drone bill, from the House. The House has just begun debate on the much-amended measure, which seeks to restrict the use of unmanned drones without a warrant, to protect privacy.…
The House has voted 42-26 in favor of SB 1192a, the bill to exempt a state parking garage project near the Capitol from local Boise city planning and zoning requirements. The bill, which earlier passed the Senate, now goes to the governor's desk.
The House is working through a suspension calendar; it has already suspended rules and approved HCR 36, on reauthorizing the LINE Commission, and HB 343, the so-called “drop-dead bill” that extends all administrative rules, which otherwise would expire July 1. Now, the Senate has reconvened…
The House is debating SB 1192a, the Senate-passed bill to exempt a state parking garage project near the Capitol from Boise city planning and zoning requirements. “We sold the bonds on the parking garage last year, and we are on a very strict timetable,” Rep.…
Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, has announced to the Senate that the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. today.
There was no debate, and the Senate has voted 31-3 in favor of SB 1199, the new education bill regarding teacher merit bonuses and technology pilot project grants. Sen. Branden Durst, D-Boise, who asked for 60 seconds to explain his vote, noted the pending education…
Senate Education Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, is presenting SB 1199 to the Senate, after a unanimous vote to suspend rules to allow the bill to come up right away. “The language … may look familiar,” he told the Senate. “It was found in another…
The Senate is at ease, while Senate leaders from both parties huddle with Senate Secretary Jennifer Novak on the complex dance that’s ahead of them, as they suspend rules, move between various orders, and pick up late bills due to arrive from the House, including…
The Senate has convened this morning; it’s planning to suspend its rules and take up SB 1199, the bill just approved this morning in the Senate Education Committee regarding two sections of the public school budget, on teacher merit bonuses and technology pilot grants.
Longtime Idaho political watcher - and player – Marty Peterson offers some historical perspective on this year’s defeat of the public school budget in the Senate and its larger implications, in a column today at Ridenbaugh.com; you can read it here. Peterson points to the…
The Senate Education Committee has approved SB 1199 with just one dissenting vote, from Sen. Branden Durst, D-Boise. Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, moved to send the bill to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass. “It’s not exactly what I would have scripted,…
In testimony this morning on SB 1199: Ryan Kerby, superintendent of the New Plymouth school district, said, “We believe that the bill is a little stronger now. … The expectations are a little bit clearer, and we think we’re going to probably be better off…
In public testimony so far this morning on SB 1199: Rob Winslow of the Idaho Association of School Administrators spoke in support of the bill. “Two key points that we greatly appreciate, certainly, are in the differential pay, it gives flexibility to districts in how…
State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna presented SB 1199 to the joint hearing this morning of the House and Senate Education committees. He summarized the bill, noting that it sets policy for the public schools budget in two areas, both on just a one-time basis:…
There’s quite a crowd of lawmakers on the dais in the Lincoln Auditorium this morning for the joint House-Senate Education committees hearing on SB 1199; here, they’re gathering for the 8 a.m. hearing. “Committees, this is a little different procedure,” Senate Education Chairman John Goedde…
Although it was just their first year They turned the whole place on its ear House freshmen avowed They would not be cowed Though purists might threaten and jeer.
Gov. Butch Otter has signed SB 1108 into law, the measure making it tougher to qualify an initiative or referendum measure for the Idaho ballot. “I thought it was the right thing to do,” said Otter, who signed the bill yesterday. “I agreed with the…
Legislative leaders have decided on the interim study committees that will be funded between now and next session; they include four new ones, along with several existing and continuing ones. Here are the new study committees and their authorizing legislation: HCR 21: Studying how Idaho…
Schools in Idaho’s timber-dependent rural communities could be facing a bill from the federal government for $400,000, Kevin Richert of Idaho Education News reports, as the feds demand a refund of payments already sent out under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, as…
Click below for a full report from AP reporters Hannah Furfaro and John Miller on the session-ending deal on the education budget, which includes the introduction of SB 1199 today, to let the House and Senate Education committees vet proposals on locally-directed teacher merit bonuses…
The Senate reconvened, and introduced the new education bill – which got the bill number of SB 1199. Then it adjourned until 10 a.m. tomorrow. The House already has adjourned until 11 a.m. tomorrow.
The Senate State Affairs Committee convened just briefly – it only took a few minutes – and introduced new legislation sponsored by Sen. John Goedde, Rep. Reed DeMordaunt and state schools Superintendent Tom Luna aimed at resolving the impasse over the defeated public school budget.…
The Senate is honoring Peter Morrill, the retiring longtime general manager of Idaho Public Television. An array of senators have offered praise to Morrill. Among them was Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, who said, “He’s made me a convert.” Mortimer said, “Many years ago when…
The Senate has voted 21-13 in favor of HCR 22, the resolution demanding that the federal government cede title to all federal land within Idaho to the state. Several senators argued that they don’t believe the resolution will be effective – the feds won’t just…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — The Moscow City Council has passed an anti-discrimination ordinance that makes it illegal to make housing and employment decisions based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The council passed the ordinance Monday amid…