House terminates ‘fetal death’ bill

The Idaho House has voted 32-31 against HB 214, a proposal from Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, to issue official state certificates of “fetal death” to women who have early miscarriages or abortions.

The measure was opposed by the state’s bureau of vital statistics, which said it now issues official certificates only for verified, reportable data. The bill would have made the new certificates both voluntary and non-public, though they’d be issued by the state’s official bureau. Boyle said it was intended to help people cope with their grief.

Senators declare mussels ‘peril’

Idaho state senators declared “a condition of extreme peril … in and around the water bodies of the state of Idaho” on Friday, voting unanimously to allow emergency spending in the coming year to combat invasive quagga or zebra mussels.

The resolution, SCR 109, now moves to the House. If passed there, it would authorize the state agriculture director to use deficiency warrants – a spend-now, pay-later emergency funding mechanism – to combat the invasive mussels in Idaho waterways.

“The mussels right now are in northern Utah,” Senate Agriculture Chairman Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home, told the Senate. “They could get here unless we take action to stop them. … We need to act to preserve our water, we need to act to preserve our fisheries. We need to act, and that’s what this resolution is all about – it allows the director of the Department of Agriculture to act.”

The move would allow emergency spending of up to $5 million.

Committee seeks statewide pay cut

Legislative budget writers have endorsed a 3 percent across-the-board pay cut for all Idaho state employees next year, to help cope with the state’s budget crunch.

The Joint Finance- Appropriations Committee voted 14-5 to impose the 3 percent pay cut, as part of an overall 5 percent cut in personnel funding statewide. The joint committee had been debating requiring 2 percent or 3 percent as the required cut; Gov. Butch Otter favored no across-the-board cut, leaving all decisions on how to meet the 5 percent reduction up to state agency heads.

State Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, was among those opposing the 3 percent figure. “Why would we intentionally go to a 3 percent salary reduction when we don’t know for sure that we have to go that deep?” he asked. “We are still not competitive in terms of how we compensate our employees.”

The requirement for the one-year pay cut doesn’t apply to public school employees; the joint committee hasn’t yet taken up the issue of pay cuts for school employees.

From staff reports