Idaho House panel kills bill to end public notice publication

BOISE – An Idaho House committee on Thursday rejected legislation from Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, to end the requirement that government agencies in Idaho publish legal notices in newspapers, and instead allow agencies to just post those notices on their individual websites.

“This is only intended for wise, efficient government,” Nate told the House State Affairs Committee. “Readership is declining, internet is increasing.”

Opponents said it would be harder for citizens to find public notices that are scattered among agency websites, rather than all appearing in local newspapers and on the Newspaper Association of Idaho’s www.idahopublicnotices.com website, which is free, statewide and searchable.

Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, said, “When we don’t have a good way other than through the newspapers to access all of these at a single portal, I just don’t think that this is ready, and it’s a disservice to our citizens to remove access as it’s currently legally required.”

The bill was killed on a 10-5 vote; dissenters included Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, who called the newspaper industry a “dinosaur.”