Duane Rasmussen also snapped this photo of former State Representative Dick Harwood, sporting some new facial hair. He relates the story behind the beard.

“Earlier in the day I met Dick Harwood and his wife at the farm store just South of the county fair grounds. He said he was one day out from being a legislator. I noticed Dick's new beard. I asked him about it. He said he was going to grow the beard until Obama got out of office. I looked over at his wife. She cringed and made a face.

Update: The House Rev & Tax Committee has voted 11-5 against introducing or allowing a full hearing on the bill to increase Idaho's cigarette tax.

Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, said, “The smokers, I want to thank them for this building we're in,” noting that Idaho tapped cigarette tax proceeds to pay for the bonds to renovate the state Capitol. “It's kind of ironic that they can't smoke in it,” he said. “My mother smoked for 82 years,” and remained in good health, Harwood said. “Just because you smoke doesn't mean that you're gonna be ill.” Rep. Cliff Bayer, R-Boise, questioned whether the state would next move to taxing people who eat unhealthy food and risk heart disease/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here. And: How they voted here.

• Bill targeting cockfighting, animal torture clears Ag panel
• Thompson school crossing guard bill dies in committee
• House narrowly defeats tanning amendments
• Gov. Otter appoints 2nd woman to ITD board
• Senate passes firefighter worker comp bill
• Nonini private exchange resolution passes House
• House passes youth concussion bill 59-7
• Senate passes pro-IEA resolution
• Risch addresses both houses, blasts federal spending
• Nonini bill would continue teacher cuts to pay for Luna reforms
• If you don't want folks to smoke, ban the product

Question: Do you ever wonder what minimal level of IQ is necessary to be an Idaho legislator?

Six-term Idaho Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, has decided to end his 12-year legislative career after this year. “I’m not going to run,” Harwood said Thursday. “My wife’s family’s not doing well. … She needs me to be there.” After 12 years in the Legislature, Harwood says he’s most proud of his work to push back against the federal government, including his failed bill this year to kick the EPA out of Idaho. “My whole goal has been to push back from the federal government,” Harwood said. “Just having someone here to try to push back and say, ‘Hey, we have sovereignty as a state,’ and try to keep the federal government from running over the top of us. That’s been my goal.” He said his only regret is that he wasn’t able to do more on that score/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

Question: Did Dick Harwood have an impact on the Idaho Legislature?

Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, (pictured) introduced legislation in the House Environmental Committee Wednesday that would repeal 10 pieces of legislation that he says allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to dictate laws in Idaho. The bill didn’t get out of committee, failing on a 9-5 vote. Harwood is vice chairman of the committee. Harwood’s plan was to have it sent to print but not go any further, thus putting it up on the Legislature’s website in hopes that other states could access it and begin a process of coming together to fight the EPA. Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, proposed a motion to send the bill to print, citing the 10th Amendment and the commerce clause within it. This led to some harsh words from Rep. Eric Anderson,R-Priest Lake. Anderson felt that the bill was flawed and that it would reflect badly on the legislative body and him personally/Mitch Coffman, Idaho Reporter. More here.

Question: Who was right in this instance — Dick Harwood or Eric Anderson?

Idaho Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, has introduced a bill that would require pestocrats seeking to block megaloads in court to post a bond that they would forfeit should they lose. The bond is big enough that they would have trouble raising it in the first place and would sting if they lost it. Up until now, only the plaintiffs has suffered any tangible harm from pestocrat lawsuits. This would level the playing field. In reality, this principle should be applied to all lawsuits, in which those initiating the lawsuit should bear some level of responsibility for wasting the court's time and peoples' money. Too many people look at the courts as a form of lottery, hoping that they will become the next person striking it rich after spilling hot coffee on themselves/Michael Costello, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Should there be a bond required for filing most lawsuits, as Costello suggests?

Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, is presenting his pro-megaloads bill, HB 193a, to the Senate Transportation Committee, and he's getting lots of questions; the bill would require a huge cash bond before anyone could file a lawsuit to block a transportation project on Idaho highways. Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, noted that Harwood spoke repeatedly of “frivolous lawsuits” and talked about the lawsuit that was filed in north-central Idaho against the proposed megaloads on Highway 12, but noted, “It's not my impression that the lawsuit that was brought in the megaloads case was considered to be frivolous by either the hearing officer or the judge.” Harwood responded, “I just used that term because sometimes that's how I feel they are.”

When Werk asked Harwood about his contention that people can find judges who'll rule any way they want, Harwood said, “Certain judges do lean in different directions. A lot of times maybe their … personal opinon, and I know in my case often my own personal opinion overrides the right thing to do.”   Betsy Russell, EOB

Do you believe judges allow personal opinion to sway court rulings?

More here.
  

It's nice to have a good laugh now and then - a real guffaw can change your outlook from gloomy to upbeat. Politicians use comedy to get the attention of voters, to relieve tension during legislative debate or to insult an opponent a la Don Rickles. Rep. Dick Harwood is no exception. The St. Maries uber Republican, fresh from the squaw-is-not-an-insult tour a few sessions ago, is taking his latest act to the people. He's currently appearing on a double bill with Tom Luna and his education reform review. And they're taking the Statehouse by storm. Harwood on Wednesday kicked-off his latest salute to common sense by introducing a bill that would effectively eliminate lawsuits against the state and its megaload policy/Murf Raquet, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. More here.

Question: Which North Idaho legislator do you consider to be the most off the wall?

JEERS … to Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St.Maries. Bet you expected public officials to look after your rights. Not so. Harwood would rather defend multinational oil companies. Case in point: the megaloads. There's every reason to question unprecedented large, wide, tall and heavy rolling roadblocks of oil and mining equipment bottling up segments of U.S. Highway 12. But Harwood would block megaload skeptics from petitioning their government for redress of grievances. He'd do it by pricing them right out of the courtroom. Introduced Wednesday, Harwood's bill says anyone who sues to block a megaload must post a bond equal to 5 percent of the shipment's value. If a megaload is worth $10 million, for example, that's $500,000. And if the lawsuit fails, the Idaho Transportation Department gets a payday. Rather a big gamble just to exercise your legal rights, don't you think?/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Should private citizens have to post a bond of up to $500,000 to sue to stop ConocoPhillips megaloads?

Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, has introduced legislation requiring anyone who files a lawsuit against a transportation project on state highways to post a bond equal to 5 percent of the value of the items being hauled, and if the plaintiffs lose the lawsuit, the whole bond would go to the Idaho Transportation Department. Plus, the bill would authorize the court to award damages to the hauler in the amount of its loss for delays related to the lawsuit. Harwood said, “This has been brought because of the megaloads. Any time an individual group can stop our commerce from flowing, it's not a good thing, and that's what happened”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

Question: Do you support Rep. Dick Harwood's attempt to price megaloads protesters out of a judicial remedy in the fight over megaloads?

The Idaho Legislature has a new power couple — Dick and Carole Harwood (pictured). Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, is a sixth-term District 2 representative. Now his wife Carole is in the House chamber too, filling in for newly elected Rep. Shannon McMillan, R-Kellogg, whose husband is ill. “Maybe we set a record,” Carole Harwood said with a smile - spouses serving in the House representing the same district. She said McMillan just called her to ask her to sub yesterday. “As I was leaving the house, I got a call,” Carole Harwood said. “I'm available as long as she needs me”/Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise. More here.

Question: Is there room enough in the Idaho Legislature for two Harwoods, even for a little while?

Benewah County Commissioner Jack Buell was one of seven individuals or groups in northern Idaho to receive a Spirit of Idaho award for contributions made to the family of late WWII Medal of Honor recipient Vernon Baker. In addition to monetary support, Mr. Buell donated firewood and assisted during the family’s home improvement project, which was funded completely by private donations. Following Mr. Baker’s death, an account was established by American Legion Post 143 in Post Falls to help pay for travel arrangements to his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery for Mr. Baker’s wife, Heidy, her daughter, Alexandra Pawlik, and Pawlik’s 10-year-old son, Vernon. More than $20,000 was raised/Chris D’Angelo, St. Maries Gazette-Record. More here. (Gazette-Record photo: Benewah County Commissioner Jack Buell was recently presented a Spirit of Idaho award by Rep. Dick Harwood.)

Question: Long-time Commissioner Jack Buell is beloved in parts of Benewah County for his acts of generosity and disliked in other parts for his stand against cross-deputization with the Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe. Would do you think about him?

Idaho House members threatened to kill funding for implementing the new Coeur d’Alene Lake Management Plan today, causing a delay in voting on the budget bill for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, told the House he thought the management plan would give the tribe jurisdiction over local landowners and counties. “You’re going to let them rule over us that live there,” he declared. “Boy … I’m uneasy about this.” Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, said, “This issue of , well, if we don’t do something today it’s going to be a Superfund site tomorrow - we’ve been hearing that for 20 years. … I’m concerned that we’re rushing this legislation through.” /Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• Chadderdon’s flag bill runs into another problem
• 32-32 vote kills Hart’s database bill
• Sun Valley visit causes bizarre clash

Question: Am I the only one who views as irresponsible the action taken by Nonini and Hart to block funding for lake management funding?

As long as most members of the House State Affairs Committee agree to indulge St. Maries Republican Dick Harwood in mulish braying at Uncle Sam, why be so timid? Instead of sending meaningless junk mail to Congress asserting Idaho’s purported “sovereignty,” why not tell the federal government to keep its money and leave the state the hell alone? If legislators are going to embrace a crackpot nostrum, let them really get their arms around it. Then let the committee turn to Harwood for another bright idea: how to replace the nearly $2 billion in cash the government sends Idaho’s way each year to help it provide services from education to health care/Jim Fisher, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

• Harwood leads odd dance ritual/Kevin Richert
• 2 good pro-life bills clear first hurdle/Idaho Values Alliance
• Stimulus to give Idaho timber towns big boost/Rocky Barker
• Editorial hate/Political Game
• Thursday Morning Coffee/Unequivocal Notion

Question: Is there a toothless type of resolution that you’d like your representative to present to fellow legislators, just for the heck of it?

Item: Not enough to do? Harwood wants Idaho to declare sovereignty from federal government/Randy Stapilus, Ridenbaugh Press

More Info: The Idaho Legislature is in a slow state right now, for understandable reasons - more needs to be done on the matter of budgets and revenue before the pace can pick up to normal. But that seems to be allowing all sorts of … creative … stuff to take up some of the quiet time and committees. Like the special from Representative Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, introduced today (Tuesday) in the House State Affairs Committee (the vote was 13-4). It would have Idaho “declare its sovereignty” from the federal government. Declare its sovereignty? As in independence, as in sovereign nation? Well, no.

Question: What do you think of Rep. Harwood’s proposal that Idaho declare itself sovereign from the federal government?

Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, failed to persuade the House Environment Committee this afternoon to introduce his bill to repeal last year’s much-negotiated, long-sought air quality vehicle emissions testing bill. The panel voted 6-5 to return the bill to its sponsor rather than introduce it. Harwood told the panel, “What this emission does is got the DEQ chasing the tail. … Our emissions have been going down since the mid-‘70s, down, down, down.” He said he feared the vehicle testing program would spread to North Idaho, because last year’s bill applies statewide to areas where vehicle emissions hit certain levels/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• Lincoln now gazes downtown
• Lincoln measure passes just in time

Question: Who’s the poorer North Idaho legislator — Dick Harwood of St. Maries or Bob Nonini of Post Falls?