The state's public defenders spend a fraction of the time they need to provide proper representation to poor people caught in the criminal justice system, according to a draft study by the Idaho Public Defense Commission. The Associated Press obtained an early version of the study through a public records request. The study has...
Legislation to reduce several driving offenses from misdemeanors to infractions and make other changes eased at easing budget pressures counties are facing for jails and public defense was introduced this afternoon in the House Judiciary Committee. Rep. Greg Chaney, R-Caldwell, said, “This will take 7,000…
The House has voted 60-9 in favor of HB 466, Rep. Ron Nate’s bill to exempt minors employed in family businesses by immediate family members from the state’s minimum wage law; Idaho’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Nate noted that there’s already a minimum…
The House has agreed, by unanimous consent, to move HB 464 – the Idaho Health Care Plan – to the bottom of its third reading calendar “for a period of two weeks.” That delays the House’s final debate and vote on the Otter Administration’s dual-waiver…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee unanimously approved a series of supplemental appropriations – allocations of funds within the current budget year – this morning, including a plan to increase the state’s child welfare staff. Caseloads have been soaring; there were 2,714 children in foster care in...
Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, pitched a proposal today from a fourth-grade class at Iona Elementary School to designate huckleberry pie as the state dessert. “I’m hoping this bill gets pie-partisan support, because any way you slice it, the huckleberry pie gives you a good filling,”…
After an hour-long hearing and lots and lots of questions, the House State Affairs Committee this morning voted to introduce campaign finance reform legislation proposed by a legislative interim working group. Two committee members – Reps. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, and Heather Scott, R-Blanchard –…
The House Revenue and Taxation Committee introduced more than half a dozen new tax policy bills Monday, including two alternatives to the governor's tax cut plan. Today's Lewiston Tribune has a rundown of all of them, including one that could reverse an Idaho Supreme Court decision regarding taxes on Simplot's JUMP building...
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
