Idaho Legislature in photos this week, 4/6-4/10/09

Here is the 13th week of Idaho's 2009 legislative session in photos.

Section:Gallery

Fri., April 10, 2009

The collection of lost-and-found items in the Capitol Annex has been growing all session, and on Monday, oddly, included a pair of women's silver spike-heeled pumps.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
Jan Eyth, supervisor of the legislative advisors for the past 25 years, at a surprise 80th birthday party the lobbyists threw for her Monday in a packed statehouse hearing room.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
Rep. Marge Chadderdon, R-Coeur d'Alene, shown here in the House on Monday, is having a new version of her flag bill drafted after problems surfaced with earlier amendments.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
House Speaker Lawerence Denney said Monday that lawmakers are on track to end the session a week from Friday, a prospect he called "doable."

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
Mike Weems, a restaurant/bar operator from Bellevue, testifies in favor of SB 1148, Gov. Butch Otter's bill to revamp Idaho's liquor license system and do away with the current population-based quota system. The bill was up for a hearing Tuesday afternoon in the House Judiciary Committee, where it drew a big crowd of people for and against.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
The House Resources Committee hears from Sharon Kiefer of Idaho Fish and Game as the panel considers a fee hike for the Fish and Game Department. The committee voted 13-5 in favor of the bill, and sent it to the full House.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
JFAC members meet in the 5th floor library of the Capitol Annex at 7 a.m. on Wednesday to prepare for their 8 a.m. meeting, at which they'll make the final calls on state employee pay cuts, personnel funding cuts, stimulus spending and more.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
Reps. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, left, George Eskridge, R-Dover, and Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, at Wednesday morning's JFAC meeting.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee meets on Wednesday morning to make a series of big decisions, from state employee pay cuts to federal stimulus spending.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
Wayne Hammon, budget chief for Gov. Butch Otter, talks to reporters outside the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, after the joint committee voted to cancel a proposed 3 percent across-the-board pay cut for state employees, and instead leave a statewide 3 percent cut in personnel funding up to agency directors. Previously, the statewide cut was to total 5 percent, including the pay cut; lawmakers opted to make up the difference from federal stimulus funds.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
Gov. Butch Otter, shown here at a proclamation-signing on Tuesday, said Wednesday that he was both "pleased" and "disappointed" by JFAC's decision on personnel cuts. Otter liked that the lawmakers agreed to flexibility for agency directors, but didn't like the use of federal stimulus funds for salaries.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, debates in favor of the bill to raise Idaho's gas tax by two cents a gallon next year. However, the House defeated the bill Thursday, on a 32-37 vote.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, urges the House to approve an $82 million highway bonding program on Friday morning.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
Rep. Leon Smith, R-Twin Falls, speaks out against the GARVEE bonding bill for highways, SB 1186, in the House on Friday.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
The Idaho House, including Reps. Phil Hart, R-Athol, Russ Mathews, R-Idaho Falls, and Steve Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, debates a highway bonding bill on Friday morning; the bill passed, despite strong debate against it.

Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review