As the Legislature wrestles with how best to approach “respectful workplace” issues – lawmakers, staffers and others all underwent training at the Statehouse last week – it’s worth noting that this issue has reached into all three branches of Idaho’s state government. In addition to…
So many people have been asking me how my husband, Charlie, is doing, that I thought I should post an update. Charlie had a snowboarding accident on Dec. 22 at Brundage, in which he took a tree branch to the abdomen; he suffered a traumatic…
Tonight’s “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television includes an interview with Sens. Brent Hill and Janie Ward-Engelking on federal tax conformity; a report on the death by suicide of former state Rep. Brandon Hixon, and discussion of mental health and suicide prevention with Kim Kane,...
After Idaho House members said they’re considering some type of financial help for the family of the late former Rep. Brandon Hixon, R-Caldwell, who took his own life last week amid a criminal investigation into sexual abuse charges and left behind four children, lawmakers have…
GOP Idaho state treasurer candidate Tom Kealey has already filed his campaign finance report for 2017, which isn’t due ‘til Jan. 31, and he’s reporting raising a whopping $97,696. Kealey, who with his wife Joy owns the Chicago Connection Restaurant Group and operates seven Treasure…
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tommy Ahlquist says his high-profile campaign promise to cut $100 million in 100 days if elected to the position may not result in a reduction of the state budget. Ahlquist first announced his plans to trim $100 million of the state budget last year. During a radio interview with KLIX this week, Ahlquist...
Idaho’s state Division of Human Resources has requested another staffer next year, in part to help investigate complaints regarding state employees including workplace harassment complaints. DHR Administrator Susan Buxton told JFAC this morning that the state is seeing “an increase in respectful workplace complaints,” but...
The House Health & Welfare Committee has voted unanimously in favor of administrative rules making permanent a 20 percent increase in reimbursements to foster care providers in Idaho. Sabrina Brown, foster care recruitment and retention specialist, for the state Department of Health & Welfare, said…
Nicole Fitzgerald, administrator of Idaho’s Office of Drug Policy, told JFAC this morning that substance-abuse prevention efforts in Idaho are having impact. According to the annual youth behavior risk survey, she said, the percentage of Idaho youth who reported drinking alcohol has dropped from 42.5…
Starting in march, the Idaho Statesman will be printed in Twin Falls, the Twin Falls Times-News announced today. Times-News Publisher Travis Quast said the Times-News has secured a three-year contract with the Statesman, which currently is printed in Nampa by the Idaho Press-Tribune. “In today’s…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how extensive surveys from the state's expert contractors show state employee compensation still lags far behind the market, but some lawmakers are questioning the data. It matters because state law requires that the state pay…
Jani Revier, budget director for Gov. Butch Otter, told the Legislature’s joint CEC Committee, “We’re holding our own in relation to other employers. The governor hopes that you will join him in recommending another 3 percent CEC, so that we do not lose ground” as…
Several lawmakers on the joint CEC Committee are raising questions about the data in the comparative salary surveys completed by the state’s consultants. Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, complained that the “Idaho-centric” Milliman custom survey included five state governments, those of the surrounding states. He requested...
After hearing about the two different salary surveys included in this year’s state CEC Report on state employee compensation, Sen. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, said he had a question. “Are we below, at or above market?” State Human Resources Director Susan Buxton responded, “We are below…
Malinda Riley, a senior principal with Hay Group Korn Ferry, told the Legislature’s CEC Committee that her firm has been conducting surveys to compare Idaho state salaries to market rates for many years; she’s been on the team since 2012. “It’s an in-depth look at…
The Legislature’s joint Change in Employee Compensation (CEC) Committee has convened in the Lincoln Auditorium for the first of three meetings over the course of the next week; it heard first from state Human Resources Administrator Susan Buxton, who is presenting the annual CEC Report.…
In an effort to combat human trafficking, House Assistant Majority Leader Brent Crane, R-Nampa, said today he’ll introduce legislation making a first-time offense of soliciting prostitution a felony. Currently, that’s a misdemeanor in Idaho until the third offense. “There are individuals that are being trafficked…
A state fund that helps keep phone landlines affordable for rural Idaho residents is losing revenue as more people switch to cellphones. The Idaho Statesman reports the Idaho Public Utilities Commission is figuring out how to keep the state fund solvent as it loses revenue that's acquired by surcharges on landline bills...
At the request of House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, the House Revenue & Taxation Committee voted unanimously this morning – with no discussion – to introduce legislation to cut state unemployment insurance taxes that are paid by Idaho employers. The change, which would save employers…
As required by a law that passed last year, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning held a special hearing on the Public Education Stabilization Fund, the rainy-day fund for schools, to consider transferring more money into it to make up for withdrawals made over the…
The Legislature’s joint Change in Employee Compensation, or CEC Committee, will meet this afternoon at 2:30 in the Lincoln Auditorium, but it won’t be taking public testimony from state employees as it has in the past. Instead, the committee has invited written testimony to be...
Raul Labrador and three other Republicans are introducing a bill that would let some undocumented immigrants who were brought here as children stay for another three years, while also passing a host of other immigration-related measures Republicans have been discussing, including a $30 billion wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and cutting legal...
Here's my full story from spokesman.com: By Betsy Z. Russell Idaho is severely lacking in doctors, and many of its existing ones are nearing retirement age, Dr. Ted Epperly told lawmakers Wednesday as he presented the state’s new 10-year plan to increase graduate medical education...
The former wife of an Idaho Republican state lawmaker who shot and killed himself this week says he was under investigation for molesting two girls, including a young female relative who was abused for more than 10 years, the AP reports. Brandon Hixon, 36, was...
Businessman and longtime Boise school board president A.J. Balukoff launched his second run for governor of Idaho on Wednesday with an announcement in Pocatello, to be followed by stops in Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, Ketchum, Boise and Coeur d’Alene this week. “In 2014 when I ran, education was my top issue and Idaho was 50th in funding...
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
| May 2018 | April 2018 | March 2018 | Feb. 2018 |
| Jan. 2018 |
