Idaho House Speaker Lawerence Denney, right, speaks to reporters at the Idaho Press Club on Tuesday; at left is Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill. (SR photo: Betsy Russell)

During today's Idaho Press Club Headliner luncheon, House Speaker Lawerence Denney was asked about the prospect of the “Add The Words” legislation coming up in the House; the Senate State Affairs Committee earlier refused, along party lines, to hold grant the bill a hearing. It would expand Idaho's Human Rights Act to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Denney said, “I have not seen a bill, and I don't think that there is any change in support on the House side”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• Bill to restore sliver of 2012 Medicaid cuts heads to full House
• Leaders ponder legislative turnover
• Denney on “Students Come First” change: “We may try to improve it”
• House defeats non-binding debt memorial after hour debate
• Senate endorses revised Idaho energy plan
• House votes 49-21 to exempt veterans from hunter ed requirements
• Ag budget set with one-time funding for anti-milfoil efforts
• Bill to bar F&G from regulating hunters on ATVs heads to full house

Question: What's the best/worst action taken by the Legislature or a committee today?

John Foster: I have the honor of serving as the lobbyist for the Idaho Press Club, and wanted to make one clarification. The media serves a greater role in this process than just reporting for their individual outlets. Those members of the media selected (via a drawing) to view the execution have agreed to serve as the eyes and ears of the public and not just their respective outlets. Those journalists will exit the execution chamber and immediately proceed to a press conference where they themselves will report to others what they saw and heard. In other words, the journalists present at the execution have an obligation to not just be reporters, but to be witnesses for the public. And I know from my conversations with journalists involved that they take that higher obligation very seriously.

Thoughts?

Joe Butler: I don’t think the Press has even entered this one since I left. As a perpetual club officer, it fell to me to hand out the forms and collect whatever entries people wanted to turn in. Mike Patrick never especially seemed to care for this one or wanted to spend the budget on it. But he never stopped people from entering on their own time and own dime. He also would occasionally give bonuses if people won big at this one or SPJ. (Mike preferred the AP contest, which represented more states, and also pitted papers against comparable sized papers, instead of all the papers in the state.)

Question: Do these media awards presentations mean anything to readers?