2011 Idaho Legislature, Week 4
Week 4 of the 2011 Idaho legislative session in pictures
Section:Gallery
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Idaho state parks Director Nancy Merrill tells lawmakers how parks are coping with deep budget cuts, during her budget presentation on Tuesday.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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The YMCA offers displays in the fourth-floor rotunda of the state Capitol on Thursday, highlighting everything from sports and weight-loss to children's programs and programs for cancer survivors
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Idaho Fish & Game Director Cal Groen tells legislative budget writers on Tuesday morning that people who buy hunting and fishing licenses are bearing most of the burden of funding his department; he wants others who benefit to pay, too.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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House Speaker Lawerence Denney presides over the House on Tuesday, which rejected, on a 31-35 vote, legislation to raise a $10 fee on offenders to support the state's POST academy to $11.50; all members of House GOP leadership opposed the bill, which Majority Caucus Chair Ken Roberts argued opened the door to fee increases to offset budget cuts.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Rep. Rich Wills, R-Glenns Ferry, proposes legislation Tuesday to permanently ban "spice," a synthetic drug that mimics the effects of marijuana. The House Judiciary Committee, which Wills chairs, agreed unanimously to introduce the bill.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Workers make final preparations Tuesday night Feb. 1, 2011 on the ConocoPhillips' large drum shaped refinery equipment bound for Billings, Mont. The first of four oversized loads has left Lewiston, Idaho late Tuesday. It is the first of what environmentalists fear could be hundreds of truckloads moving along a federally protected route once crossed by Lewis and Clark.
Ap Photo Lewiston Tribune
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Idaho state DEQ Director Toni Hardesty tells lawmakers on Wednesday that the agency is "precariously close" to losing primacy to the federal government in several environmental regulatory programs; that could happen with further budget cuts, she said.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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A home-schooling coalition holds its annual "Pie Day" in the state capitol, when it hands out homemade pie to lawmakers and features display from and about home-schooled students.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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About 75 protesters opposed to megaloads on U.S. Highway 12 rally on the Statehouse steps on Wednesday; behind them, a large group of home-schooled students at the Capitol for their annual "Pie Day" files out of the Statehouse.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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The House Local Government Committee convenes on Wednesday for the first time in this year's legislative session, to consider introducing seven bills to limit the authority of urban renewal districts.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Rep. Kathy Sims, R-Coeur d'Alene, proposes legislation on Wednesday to require urban renewal board members to be elected in county-wide elections. Sims said she couldn't believe she was finally getting a chance to address the subject.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Former Sen. Bob Geddes makes his first budget presentation to lawmakers on Thursday as the new chairman of the Idaho State Tax Commission. Geddes said there is 'much to be proud of' at the agency, whose last chairman resigned under fire amid allegations of misusing his position.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Rep. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, pitches legislation Thursday morning to sell Idaho's unused governor's mansion and shift the money to cash-strapped state parks.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, proposes legislation Thursday to change community college board elections, dividing them up by geographic districts in which candidates would have to reside. The House State Affairs Committee agreed to introduce the bill.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Jason Hancock, aide to state schools Supt. Tom Luna, presents the first bill on Thursday to implement Luna's far-reaching education reform plan. At left is Luna, watching from the front row of the audience at the Senate Education Committee meeting. Hearings on the bills are scheduled for next week.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Idaho Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna talks with reporters after he got his school reform bills introduced in the Senate Education Committee on Thursday afternoon. Luna said he's made two changes to the bills since a public hearing two weeks earlier, easing online course requirements.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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House Ethics Committee members Tom Loertscher, left, chairman, Wendy Jaquet, vice-chair, and Bill Killen, wait on Friday morning for Rep. Phil Hart to arrive.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, apologizes to a House Ethics Committee on Friday. "I don't have a pristine past," he told the panel.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, talks with reporters after a House Ethics Committee on Friday dismissed a complaint against him in exchange for his decision to give up his committee vice-chairmanship. At right is Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, a Hart supporter.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review