After a fervent, hour-long debate, the House has voted 37-31 in favor of HB 113, Rep. Janet Trujillo’s parental rights bill. Backers included Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, who told a story about objecting to his teenage daughter’s school health class mentioning masturbation, and being…
Gov. Butch Otter today signed the stopgap funding bill for Idaho school broadband service into law, allocating $3.64 million to the state Department of Education to hand out to school districts for the service, to replace services previously provided by the defunct Idaho Education Network,…
The House Health & Welfare Committee voted unanimously in favor of HB 177 this morning, the new GOP bill to require parental consent for 14- to 17-year-olds to use artificial tanning beds and prohibit their use entirely for those ages 13 and under. That matches...
HB 44, creating a new elk license plate to benefit the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, has passed the Senate on a close 19-15 vote, and now heads go the governor’s desk. Sen. Lee Heider, R-Twin Falls, asked the sponsor, Sen. Marv Hagedorn, whether the new…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho Senate panel has introduced legislation that would permit people to use oil extracted from cannabis plants, which would amend the state's strict marijuana ban in order to help people with epilepsy.…
Former longtime Associated Press reporter Quane Kenyon Sr. passed away last night; he covered many an Idaho legislative session, and in this 2013 photo, is shown, 14 years after his retirement, filling in as a substitute for Sen. Fred Martin, R-Boise. Counting regular sessions, organizational...
Internal divisions within the Idaho Republican Party were on display at a Senate committee hearing this morning, as Republican Party officials spoke both for and against legislation to allow for an early presidential primary in the state, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $2…
Six companies have responded to a Request for Information from the state Department of Administration regarding an Idaho Education Network replacement contract for the fiscal year that starts July 1, Idaho EdNews reports. Among the responses: As the self-labeled Idaho Education Network “incumbent,” Education Networks...
The Kootenai County Republican County Republican Central Committee last night rejected a resolution to declare Idaho a "Christian state" – a proposed resolution that had drawn national ridicule, including comparisons to ISIS. The S-R’s D.F. Oliveria reports in his “Huckleberries Online” blog that the resolution…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An effort to reduce the cost of Idaho's indigent care system by an estimated $16 million died in committee on Tuesday. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted 5-3 to kill a measure…
Legislation to block any government entity in Idaho from using the power of eminent domain to create hiking trails, bike paths or greenways passed the Senate yesterday on a 20-13 vote, after much debate, and now moves to the House side, though opponents warned that...
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A state House panel is endorsing legislation that would require Idaho's delegates in a constitutional convention to vote no on all proposals that the Legislature does not support. The House State Affairs Committee...
House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, made an unusual statement on the House floor today. He said he and other lawmakers are being harassed by supporters of the “constitutional carry” bill to repeal Idaho’s concealed weapon permit law. “We have arrived at a time…
Legislation to make “several minor changes” in Idaho’s new tax reimbursement incentive act, a tax break lawmakers approved last year to grant a tax credit for up to 30 percent of a business’s state income tax, sales taxes and payroll taxes for up to 15…
The Senate Agriculture Committee has voted 5-4 to reject a rule change easing restrictions on importation of farmed elk into the state that brought warnings from state Fish & Game Director Virgil Moore of potential catastrophic impacts to Idaho’s wildlife herds. “We just need to…
The Legislature’s joint budget committee began setting agency budgets for next year this morning, though it’s started out with agencies that don’t include any state general funds. First up was the state Department of Finance, which operates from fees paid by the banks and other…
Melissa Davlin and Seth Ogilvie of Idaho Public TV's "Idaho Reports" have put together a detailed online timeline of the Idaho Education Network mess, with original documents attached. It's an enlightening look back and how we got here; you can see it online here.
Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, whose question to a doctor during a hearing this morning on an anti-abortion bill about whether a woman could swallow a pill containing a tiny camera for a remote gynecological exam – the answer was no – went viral and...
AP reporter Kimberlee Kruesi has a full story out now on today’s hearing on HB 154, the bill to ban doctors from prescribing abortion-inducing medication through telemedicine, at which Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, received a brief lesson on female anatomy after asking if a…
Ednetics, a Post Falls-based tech firm, has sent an email out to Idaho school districts pitching its broadband service, now that districts need to find new broadband providers, and offering to save districts money over the cost of the previous Idaho Education Network. “As an…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho lawmaker received a brief lesson on female anatomy after asking if a woman can swallow a small camera for doctors to conduct a remote gynecological exam. The question Monday from Republican…
“Add the Words” protesters have returned to the Idaho Capitol, holding silent vigils in the rotunda outside the House and Senate chambers each morning until the morning floor session adjourns; the vigils started late last week. The protesters, who stand silently with their hands over...
A rite of spring in the Idaho Capitol is the annual Idaho Watercolor Society art show, with Idaho artists’ watercolor paintings on display in the fourth floor rotunda of the state Capitol. The show started today and runs through March 7. Most of the works…
Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, returned to the Senate today, and thanked senators and others for their cards and prayers while she was ill, undergoing seven surgeries since Christmas. “The cards are over 2 feet tall, and the prayer lists – I don’t think there’s…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A legislative panel is backing a bill that would let Idaho's Education Department contract with private companies for education programs, and then only pay once the programs are shown to work. The House…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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