The Idaho Department of Fish & Game will take over operation of the Hagerman National Fish Hatchery next year from the U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife, and the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning voted unanimously, 20-0, in favor of a budget for Idaho Fish…
The futures of a storied Idaho park and a planned highway without a dollar to its name have become oddly entangled as one lawmaker tries to bring more control to the governor’s office, the Idaho Statesman reports. Last month, House Transportation Chairman Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, introduced a bill that would shift the hiring of three...
Idaho officials have auctioned timber on federal land as part of an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service intended to increase logging and reduce the severity of wildfires. The sale on the Idaho Panhandle National Forests in northern Idaho is the third timber sale sold by the Idaho Department of Lands under the federal Good Neighbor Authority...
If Sen. Steve Vick had his way, North Idaho would be on Mountain standard time year round – so it’d be in the same time zone as Boise in the winter, but wouldn’t change clocks for daylight-saving time in the summer; you can read my…
Tonight’s “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television reports on the redistricting that’s ahead for Idaho following the 2020 census, and various bills that have been proposed this year to try to change the process. Also, producer Seth Ogilvie interviews House Health & Welfare Committee Chairman…
The State Board of Education has joined the chorus of opposition to a controversial private school scholarship bill, reports Idaho Education News. Voting unanimously today, the State Board opposed House Bill 590, which narrowly passed the House Education Committee Wednesday and now awaits a vote…
A group of Idaho lawmakers on Friday approved a proposal declaring pornography a public health risk. After approving the resolution, however, the same House panel failed to pass a separate measure requiring public libraries in Idaho to install blockers on their wireless networks...
The Senate has passed Sen. Todd Lakey’s “stand your ground” gun law on a 29-6 party-line vote, with all Senate Republicans voting in favor and all Senate Democrats voting against. “Idaho has some of the best self-defense laws in the country,” Lakey, R-Nampa, told the…
The House has voted 52-16 in favor of HB 547, Rep. Joe Palmer’s bill to forbid local communities from adopting any residential building code provisions that are more up-to-date or more stringent than those adopted by a state board. “It clarifies legislative intent … so...
The House today honored the Legislature’s longtime chief bill drafter, Mike Nugent, who is retiring. Lawmakers from both parties lauded Nugent’s impartiality, hard work, extensive knowledge and quick and on-target work. House Speaker Scott Bedke, addressing Nugent in the House gallery, said, “We will miss...
The budget was set for the state Department of Correction today, with JFAC voting unanimously for a series of motions that come in slightly below the governor’s recommendation, calling for a 7.6 percent increase in state funds. A working group of JFAC members including Reps....
The Senate State Affairs Committee has heartily endorsed plans to bond to build a new $35 million skilled nursing facility on the State Hospital South campus to replace a four-story, 1930s-era structure that now houses 29 elderly and disabled patients with severe mental or physical...
Idaho would become the latest state to prevent convicted domestic abusers from owning guns under a proposal headed to the House floor. The House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee, a Republican-dominant panel, on Thursday spent several hours debating the Democratic-backed measure before agreeing to send HB 585 to the House floor...
There was drama in JFAC this morning, as three competing motions were made on the budget for the Idaho Secretary of State’s office – and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney says the result is that he’s looking at not being able to make the required…
Here’s an article from Idaho Education News: By Clark Corbin The Idaho House narrowly passed a bill Thursday that would force school districts to wait a year after a failed bond issue before running another one. Sponsoring Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, said HB 639 is…
The Senate has voted 26-9 in favor of HB 463, the governor’s tax-cut bill, sending the measure to the governor’s desk. The nine “no” votes included all six Senate Democrats, plus three Republicans: Sens. Dan Johnson, R-Lewiston, the Senate tax chairman; Jeff Siddoway, R-Terreton, the...
More from today’s tax-cut debate in the Senate: Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, said the personal and corporate income taxes are the ones targeted for cuts in HB 463 because “that’s where the money is coming from.” He said, “I think it’s a good one to...
More from this morning’s debate in the Senate on the tax-cut bill, HB 463: Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, distributed a handout with calculations for various scenarios, including just conforming with federal tax changes, and also adding state income tax cuts, as in HB 463,…
From the Senate debate so far on HB 463, the tax-cut bill: Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, said, “There is much at stake when we reduce our revenue by this level.” She noted that Idaho is still restoring programs cut during the recession, from infrastructure to...
Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, a retired CPA, told the Senate, “I get excited about tax policy – I guess it’s one of my character defects. And I get excited talking about this bill.” He’s presenting HB 463, the $200 million income tax cut...
The Idaho Senate has reconvened after a break for party caucuses, and the next item on its agenda is HB 463, the big House-passed income tax cut bill. You can watch live here.
After a lengthy hearing this morning, the House State Affairs Committee has rejected legislation from Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, to end the requirement that government agencies publish legal notices, and instead allow agencies to just post those notices on their individual websites. “This is only...
Paulette Jordan's campaign says a “staff error” resulted in an email being sent out Wednesday claiming she is the “only Democrat ever elected” to the Legislature from northern Idaho. Jordan, who represented the 5th Legislative District from 2014 until she resigned last week, faces Boise businessman A.J. Balukoff in the May 15 gubernatorial...
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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