On tonight’s “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television, host Melissa Davlin interviews state Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, on education and budgeting; and visits with Lewiston Tribune reporter Bill Spence and Twin Falls Times-News reporter Gretel Kauffman on how this year’s legislative action affected their…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter on Thursday put education improvements at the top of his list of accomplishments of this year’s just-concluded legislative session, the last one of his three terms as the state’s governor. Otter noted that the public school budget was boosted by $100…
Key education lawmakers say they rarely met with state superintendent Sherri Ybarra during the 2018 legislative session, and that Ybarra’s lack of engagement hinders her effectiveness, Idaho EdNews reports. The House co-chair of the joint budget committee said she met with Ybarra just once during the...
She can't let it go. Three weeks after her domestic violence bill failed on a 39-31 vote, Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, still wakes up at night wondering what she could have done differently. "I was devastated," Wintrow said. "I thought I had the votes." Wintrow collapsed a day after the House debate, too ill to leave home...
Asked what’s on his to-do list for his final nine months in office, third-term Gov. Butch Otter said, “I still have some very important governing to do, and I’m going to do it.” But he also shared this: “Well, believe it or not, we’re starting…
Gov. Butch Otter says the decision to carry out the death penalty is the toughest decision he’s faced as governor, and he’s already taken Lt. Gov. Brad Little out to the state’s execution chamber to acquaint him with the process and the protocols. He said…
Among the revelations at Gov. Butch Otter’s post-legislative session press conference today: Otter supported HB 581, the bipartisan bill to allow Idaho judges to vary from current mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession, which are now based solely on the amount of drugs involved, in…
The Idaho Legislature followed a new process this year at the end of its session, sparked in part by an Idaho Supreme Court decision last year that held that bills lawmakers pass are null and void unless they’re presented to the governor before lawmakers adjourn…
Among the questions that Gov. Butch Otter fielded from reporters at his press conference today was one about allowing bills to become law without his signature; he took that approach on 11 bills this year, despite pointing to problems in them ranging from constitutional and…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter pointed to education improvements at the top of his list of what he saw as the accomplishments of this year’s legislative session, along with expanding behavioral health crisis centers; consolidating the state’s information technology services under the governor’s office; expanding the…
The Idaho Legislature wrapped up an 80-day legislative session on Wednesday, opting at the end not to try to override a veto from Gov. Butch Otter, though lawmakers had remained in session for five extra days just for that purpose. Otter on Wednesday vetoed legislation…
The Senate has now joined the House in adjourning sine die, after numerous thank-you and goodbye speeches. The Senate adjourned at 5:56 p.m. That marks the end of the Idaho Legislature’s annual session for this year; it went 80 days.
The House has now adjourned sine die, taking the vote at 5:19 p.m MT. Prior to making the motion, House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, checked the time. “5:18,” he reported – the exact time that the clock runs out on the governor’s time to...
For a story I’ve been working on about bills that made a splash earlier in the session and then just – poof – disappeared, I asked Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, this afternoon if he knew why his bill to designate huckleberry pie as the official…
Gov. Butch Otter has announced that he’ll hold a press conference in his office tomorrow at 1 p.m., with legislative leaders, to give his response to this year’s legislative session – his last of his three terms as governor. The session will be streamed live…
The Senate has begun its sine die goodbyes, after Majority Leader Chuck Winder told senators, “We’re rapidly approaching the witching hour of 5:18 and 5:26 when the clock runs out.” That's the deadline for the governor to act on House and Senate bills that were...
Gov. Butch Otter has allowed HB 658a, the controversial trespassing law, to become law without his signature; you can read his transmittal letter here. "The myriad problems and bad actors plaguing the agricultural community and other large landowners need to be addressed," Otter wrote. "However, this legislation...
Two of the three bills that Gov. Butch Otter indicated earlier today he had problems with have now been dealt with; Otter has allowed the non-compete bill, SB 1287a, to become law without his signature. You can read his transmittal letter here. The bill repeals…
After the reading of the governor’s veto message on HB 566a, the charter school administrator certification bill, the House went straight to its vote on a possible override, and the alarm bell rang signaling that House members should cast their votes – but they didn’t.…
A full hour after it was scheduled to convene, the House has come back in; you can watch live here. The House is expected to take a vote on possibly overriding Gov. Butch Otter’s veto of the charter school administrator bill, HB 566a.
So far today, Gov. Butch Otter has signed 10 bills, including the Medicaid budget, an amended bill regarding local building codes, and several other budget bills; issued one veto, on the charter school administrators bill; and allowed two bills to become law without his signature,…
House and Senate Democrats touted their legislative successes this year, but said when it came to the session’s top-tier issues – from two major tax bills to the “stand your ground” law and anti-trespassing bill – majority Republicans shunted them aside. “Democrats were completely cut…
Senate Republicans wrapped up their caucus in about 15 minutes, but the Senate hasn't gone back into session; it's now waiting for the House. "We can't do anything until we know what they're going to do," said Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg. The Senate…
Well, the Senate convened as scheduled at 1:30, but immediately went at ease for a closed-door majority caucus, which reportedly will last until 2:30 (that's Boise time - the time stamps on this blog are in Pacific time, because that's where The Spokesman-Review's servers are).…
Gov. Butch Otter has vetoed the charter school administrator certification bill, HB 566a. The amended bill passed the Senate 23-10 and the House 58-11; the original bill passed the House 49-18. The measure would set up a new certification for charter school administrators that lacks...
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