Idaho lawmakers closed out the 2017 legislative session Wednesday, finishing the year by passing a contentious repeal of the state's 6 percent sales tax on groceries while clearing a sweeping transportation funding plan.

"Every session has a different personality, but this one really had an interesting personality," said Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Idaho Falls. "Nevertheless, we've accomplished some things that have never been accomplished before."

Yet this session was also marked by what the Legislature couldn't complete. Lawmakers backed away from addressing the state's estimated 78,000 Idahoans without health care coverage, arguing that uncertainty in Congress prevented them from taking any meaningful actions to provide medical care or expand Medicaid eligibility to Idaho's needy population/Kimberlee Kruesi, Associated Press. More here.