House Speaker Scott Bedke and Senate President Pro-tem Brent Hill, addressing the Idaho Press Club today, both said they think it’s likely the Legislature can adjourn by the end of March. “I still don’t see anything that should keep us here after the end of the month,” Hill said. “I’m not saying there won’t be something. Two big issues – personal property tax repeal and the state exchanges – they’re going to be voted up or down. And there’s no reason why they can’t get through both bodies in the time we have left, by the end of the month. I don’t see anything there that the governor’s going to start vetoing bills to keep us around to pass. So … I still think we have a good chance of being out.”

Bedke said, “I’m learning how it feels to be the speaker, but it seems to me, when I was just a regular member of the House, that there was a definite, you could feel the wind shift or the mood change or something like that. It’s my perception that that has, the members are ready to be done. … There’s been a click, and people are ready to go home.”