Gov. Butch Otter met with legislative leaders for 45 minutes this afternoon, and they emerged with only one thing certain: The session won’t be ending Friday, following today’s Senate defeat of the $1.3 billion public schools budget. Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, told the…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Senate voted 26-8 to divert money from a Department of Fish and Game hunter-access program to wolf control, an effort backed by the state's livestock industry. Wednesday's vote came over objections from…
The Senate Education Committee has posted a meeting agenda for tomorrow at 1 p.m., and it includes HB 65, the budget fix for schools for the current year that makes sure schools don’t lose $30 million in current-year funding due to the failure of Propositions…
When was the last time a public school budget was defeated on the floor of the Idaho House or Senate? Turns out the answer is 1992, and it was a doozy. That year, the first version of the school budget, HB 704, failed in the…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho State Board of Education has named Donald Burnett as interim president of the University of Idaho. Burnett is the dean of the College of Law at the Moscow-based university. The board…
(See Davlin post and Popkey post for the background on this) To Facebook with such a lament Good Senator Hagedorn went There to embroil With Moyle and Boyle And where they did all cybervent.
The House has voted 63-7 in favor of SCR 112, the resolution stating that it’s the position of the Idaho Legislature that marijuana should never be legalized in the state for any purpose. “It doesn’t do anything other than just state our position that we’re…
HB 176, Coeur d’Alene GOP Rep. Kathy Sims’ bill to ban Idaho voters who’ve moved overseas from voting in state or local elections, has been defeated by a single vote in the Senate. The bill was just voted down, 17-18, after senators raised concerns about…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on today’s stunning and historic defeat of the public school budget by one vote in the Senate, derailing plans to end Idaho’s legislative session this week. Though opponents complained that the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee overstepped its…
Senate Education Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, who led the historic move in the Senate to defeat the public school budget today – after it had cleared the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on a 15-5 vote and passed the House 52-16 – said after the vote…
With the defeat of the public school budget in the Senate today, the legislative session won't end this week as had been anticipated. "I think at a minimum you're adding another week to the session," said JFAC Co-Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert.
Here’s how senators voted in today’s historic defeat of the public schools budget, HB 323: Voting in favor of the budget bill: Sens. Bock, Buckner-Webb, Cameron, Davis, Durst, Hill, Johnson, Keough, Lacey, Lakey, Lodge, McKenzie, Rice, Schmidt, Stennett, Tippets, and Werk. Voting against: Sens. Bair,…
The Senate has defeated the public school budget, HB 323, by one vote; it was 17-18.
After comments from Sen. Cliff Bayer, R-Boise, against HB 323, the school budget, Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, has begun his closing debate. “It is our highest priority to fund public education,” he told the Senate. “This isn’t an easy budget. It’s not easy because it…
Sen. Branden Durst, D-Boise, asked unanimous consent of the Senate to be excused from voting on HB 323, the public school budget, saying he has a conflict of interest because his family would get “a direct pecuniary benefit” from the budget bill. There was an…
Sen. Jim Patrick, R-Twin Falls, also debated against HB 323, the public schools budget, saying he opposed the $21 million for merit bonuses and professional development, and instead thought that money should go to discretionary funding for school districts. “I just think we should properly…
Senate Education Committee Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, is speaking against the public school budget. He said he has no problem with the bottom line amount. “My problem lies in some specific areas in the budget,” he told the Senate. Goedde said he objects to…
The Senate has begun its debate on HB 323, the public schools budget – the single largest slice of the state’s general fund budget. “This is not a perfect budget by anyone’s imagination or stretch, but it is a good budget,” Senate Finance Chairman Dean…
After Sen. Bob Nonini’s comments in Senate debate last week that he’s now “embarrassed by my actions last May in something that you’re probably all aware of,” when he spent thousands to back primary challengers against six GOP incumbents, Idaho Statesman columnist Dan Popkey tracked…
Yesterday, the House State Affairs Committee killed SB 1134, Sen. Chuck Winder’s drone privacy bill. Today, the committee has voted to reconsider it. Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, said some amendments are in the works; Rep. Gayle Batt, R-Wilder, said she worked with a bipartisan group…
Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, jingled some silver coins for the House State Affairs Committee. “Gold and silver coin is the only lawful monetary option for states,” he intoned. “Right here I have some silver coins, four quarters and two half-dollars. … Those four quarters…
Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, asked why the state issued bonds and committed to a design for a parking garage near the state Capitol before it had gone through the city of Boise’s permitting and design review process. Jeff Youtz, director of legislative services, said, “Our…
Legislation seeking to exempt the state from local city planning and zoning rules as it develops a new parking garage near the state Capitol has drawn an array of opponents to testify against the bill, SB 1192, in the Senate State Affairs Committee this morning,…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
