The Senate has completed all its business for this year's legislative session, on this 74th legislative day. It has now dispatched committees to inform the governor and the House of that, and is at ease, preparing to adjourn sine die. The House is still debating,…
After 36 years of service to the state, Legislative Services Director Jeff Youtz is retiring in September of 2014 – this is his last legislative session. So both the House and Senate are honoring him today with a resolution, HCR 63, lauding his service. After…
The House Ethics Committee has met to consider Rep. Shannon McMillan’s failure to disclose that she had a conflict of interest before voting against a bill, and decided not to take any formal action against her. “The Ethics Committee met to consider the ethics review…
Former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney stumped for Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, Sen. Jim Risch and Congressman Mike Simpson in Boise on Thursday, the AP reports, saying he was endorsing the three because they are good conservatives and because they were early endorsers of his…
The Senate has voted unanimously in favor of HB 645, the funding bill that trails HB 406, the measure to have the state take over primacy for wastewater permitting under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System from the EPA. The funding bill includes $300,000 in…
Both houses are whipping through bills, headed toward adjournment today. The House has voted 44-25 in favor of SB 1395 as amended in the House, the bill to grant 1.5 percent raises to top state elected officials for each of the next four years, rather…
Both houses are back in session; the House has gone to its amending order and amended SB 1395, the bill granting raises to top state elected officials, to lower the amounts from 2.5 percent a year to 1.5 percent a year. At the urging of…
The Senate has recessed until 1:30, after watching a musical slide show from its pages about their experience at the Statehouse. Before that, five of the seven bills that make up the public schools budget had passed easily, four of them on unanimous 34-0 votes,…
House GOP leaders have proposed amendments to SB 1395, the bill granting raises to the state’s top elected officials over the next four years, to trim the boosts back from 2.5 percent a year to 1.5 percent a year. “That is a number that would…
The House has recessed until 1:30 p.m., and has a House State Affairs Committee meeting scheduled immediately upon recess to hear SB 1395, the bill granting top state elected officials raises over the next four years; the House Ways & Means Committee will meet at…
Yesterday, House Appropriations Chairwoman Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, carried one of the major chunks of the public school budget in the House that had been scheduled to be presented by Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Idaho Falls; Bell commented to the House, “Someone’s off with Mitt Romney and…
Legislation signed into law yesterday by Gov. Butch Otter regarding “time-sensitive emergencies” will save an estimated 100 lives a year in Idaho, according to House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, a physician. Rusche co-sponsored the bill, SB 1329, with the other two medical doctors who…
Gov. Butch Otter signed 42 bills into law yesterday; he’s still not vetoed any of the legislation passed by lawmakers this year. Among the bills signed: SB 1274a, which amends Idaho’s Safe Boating Act to make it enforceable again; SB 1310, to restrict fines imposed…
This year’s legislative session may well end today. “Mr. President, senators, let’s go home today,” Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, told the Senate this morning. “Let’s go home today. It’s doable.” He said he’s visited with his House counterpart, House Majority Leader Mike…
Lawmakers may try to pause it But changing times surely will cause it To move to the fore With debate on the floor This issue is out of the closet.
After much debate, all seven pieces of the public school budget for next year – which reflects a 5.1 percent increase in state funding from this year – have passed the House, and are on their way to the Senate. Objections came members of both…
It’s getting very, very difficult to go back inside after venturing out, even briefly. So here’s Legislative Limerick No. 2 for this session: Outside the birds twitter happily A little dog passes by yappily The sun and light breeze Little buds on the trees Let’s…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has signed into law the justice reinvestment bill, SB 1357, after it unanimously passed both the House and Senate. The measure, calls for reforms to Idaho's probation and parole systems in an attempt to reserve prison space for the most dangerous…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter signed 15 bills into law yesterday, including HB 547, which directs that cigarette tax receipts that now are going to pay off bonds on the state Capitol renovation will instead go to road work and water projects next year, once the…
After passing HJR 2, the constitutional amendment to enshrine legislative review of administrative rules in the state Constitution, on a unanimous vote, the Senate has recessed to 1:45, and the House has recessed to 4 p.m. Both houses are planning a signing ceremony for the…
Retiring Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, has endorsed Avista Corp. official Greg Gfeller for the seat Henderson will be vacating next year, as Gfeller heads into a hotly contested three-way GOP primary race. “I was looking for someone with a business background, because jobs are…
With a 67-1 vote of the Idaho House this morning, lawmakers have sent legislation granting raises to the state’s judges and justices to Gov. Butch Otter’s desk. “The judges and justices in the state of Idaho are some of the lowest paid in the nation,…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A new report from Idaho's state auditors shows that sentencing a defendant to life in prison without parole is more expensive than imposing the death penalty. But the Office of Performance Evaluations also…
Budget bills are moving through both houses; among them, the Senate this morning voted unanimously in favor of SB 1415, the budget bill for the state’s community colleges for next year. Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, lauded the inclusion of funds for expanding outreach efforts…
It already passed once, but today the Idaho Senate again passed HB 546, the business tax credits bill, this time as amended to address constitutional concerns raised in an Idaho Attorney General’s opinion. Proposed by state Commerce Director Jeff Sayer, the House-passed bill would allow…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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