Legislators received another dose of good budget news this week. The state is on target to end the 2016-17 budget year with a $132.5 million surplus – well ahead of the $48.4 million cushion lawmakers wrote into the budget when they adjourned the 2016 session…
On tonight’s “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television, co-hosts Melissa Davlin and Aaron Kunz examine the news of the week – election results and fallout. On the pundits panel, I join Jim Weatherby, Kevin Richert, Davlin and Kunz to discuss the implications for anti-federalism, education…
Idaho's top legislative leaders have approved a pilot project for better estimating the cost of proposed legislation, now a task that's generally left to lawmakers themselves. Legislative analysts would...
The work of the Legislature’s study panel examining alternatives to close Idaho’s health coverage gap isn’t over, legislative leaders said Friday, even though President-elect Donald Trump is vowing to repeal Obamacare. “I don’t believe that is dead,” said House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley. “I don’t think the problem has gone away.” Full story...
Idaho Sen. Jim Risch could get a shot at chairing the prestigious Foreign Relations Committee, the Idaho Statesman reports today, if speculation about a new President Trump choosing current the current chair, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., as Secretary of State proves correct. The Statesman reported…
Several hundred people met in the streets of downtown Boise to protest Donald Trump's presidential election. The protest started Thursday on the steps of the Idaho Statehouse, where people gathered and marched the streets for several hours. The protests were similar to others around the nation...
After this year’s major breach of state Fish and Game data held by a vendor, the state of Idaho has decided to purchase a $25 million cybersecurity insurance policy, the Legislative Council heard this morning. The policy, with an annual premium of roughly $570,000 and…
The Legislative Council, the committee of lawmakers chaired by the House speaker and Senate president pro-tem that handles legislative business between sessions, is meeting this morning at the Capitol, and its first action was to approve adding another budget analyst to the legislative budget request…