Tougher sex offender sentences passed

Lawmakers gave final approval to Senate Bill 1301 on Friday, to set mandatory minimum life sentences for designated violent sexual predators who repeat crimes, and mandatory minimum 15-year terms for other sex offenders who reoffend.

“We’re talking about two strikes and you’re out,” said Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, the bill’s House sponsor. The measure, proposed by the attorney general, passed the House unanimously and headed to the governor’s desk.

Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, voted for the bill but said he has concerns about it because statutory rape is among the crimes that could trigger the minimum sentences: “We are using a broad net to increase the monitoring and the penalties for these guys, and we have to make sure that the crime and the penalty are appropriate.”

He said he hopes to revisit the issue during next year’s legislative session.

– Betsy Z. Russell

Boise

Changes for science, math are delated

Plans to consider a high school curriculum redesign that calls for requiring far more math and science were put on hold Friday, though the House Education Committee faced a big crowd waiting to hear the debate and decision.

Committee Chairman Rep. Jack Barraclough, R-Idaho Falls, said House and Senate leaders want to see what happens with a resolution that cleared the panel a day earlier, before taking up the Board of Education’s proposed change. House Concurrent Resolution 61, calling for studying the issue further and addressing it next year, awaits a vote in the full House.

Barraclough apologized to the waiting crowd.

– Meghann M. Cuniff

Boise

Mental illness coverage passes

Legislation to take a first step toward requiring insurance coverage for serious mental illnesses to match that for physical illness passed the Senate on a 26-9 vote Friday and headed to the governor’s desk.

House Bill 615 would start the process with an experiment: The state would institute parity between coverage for mental and physical illnesses for state employees, and study costs over the next three years. That would provide information to allow both the state and private insurers to decide whether to provide more widespread parity in the future.

Of North Idaho’s senators, only Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, voted no.

– Betsy Z. Russell

Train hits truck, but no injuries

No one was injured Friday when a train struck a semitruck near State Line Village, Idaho, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.

The accident occurred shortly before 5 p.m. at Seltice and Beck roads. – Staff reports