Lots and lots happening as lawmakers scramble toward hoped-for adjournment this week…
There’s a lot going on in the Statehouse today. So far, the Senate State Affairs Committee has agreed to introduce new legislation that would forbid making false statements while circulating an initiative petition – in response to reports that petition circulators for an instant-racing initiative are telling people it’s to save horse racing and help education, not to legalize gambling machines. The bill isn’t expected to proceed further, but the panel voted unanimously to introduce it.
The same committee also cleared a House-passed bill to increase statewide elected officials’ salaries, a move that can be made only once every four years, before those officials are elected. It would raise the governor’s salary by 9.5 percent next year, with no further increase for the rest of the four years, with comparable increases for other officials – with the exception of the Attorney General, whose salary would rise by only 1.7 percent over the next four years. I’ll have more about that bill later today.
Meanwhile, the House State Affairs Committee was deep into a hearing on Rep. Joe Palmer’s bill, HB 711, which was just introduced late last week, to sharply limit the Correctional Industries program, which employs prison inmates in apprentice and job programs, out of concern about possibly competing with private companies. Among those testifying against the bill was state Corrections Director Henry Atencio and Dan Romero, who owns Idaho Pacific Lumber Co. in Meridian and is currently the only customer purchasing multi-family and commercial cabinetry made by Correctional Industries; he said only a tiny percentage of his supply comes from the program. The committee ran out of time, and Chairman Tom Loertscher recessed the hearing so representatives could head up to the House floor.
“We’ve got to go upstairs,” Loertscher said. “We apologize for those that would still like to testify. Stay tuned; if we get a little break we may come back here and finish this up later today.”
Meanwhile, the Senate convened, then went to caucus, so they’re now in recess.
Now, the House is taking up HP 1, a House proclamation calling for the state Constitutional Defense Fund to cover attorney fees for a successful private lawsuit won by ranchers over stockwater rights – something the Idaho Attorney General already has warned would be unconstitutional.
