It’s the political season, and candidates are announcing – including Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d’Alene, who announced he’ll run for another term. Today on the steps of the Capitol, Sayler was among a crowd of Democrats at the announcement of Jackie Groves Twilegar, a new…
Reforms of the fast-growing Medicaid program won strong support from the state House on Tuesday, just after a budget was approved for the program for next year that counts on just a 7.8 percent increase – half of last year’s hike. “There is a tie…
It’s not an acronym. Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, really is wearing a shiny gold lapel pin spelling out “COAL,” as the debate rages in southern Idaho about mercury pollution and other issues surrounding a proposed coal-fired power plant in Jerome County. Legislation is pending…
Without comment, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne has signed into law HB 556, which limits personal use of campaign contributions. The measure, which passed both houses unanimously, prohibits candidates or office-holders from using the money for food, clothing, rent, country club memberships, or other expenses that they’d…
Rep. Margaret Henbest, D-Boise, is a nurse who has made a point in recent years of urging her fellow House members to lose weight and eat healthy. But today, she was sponsoring a resolution at the Senate State Affairs Committee, HCR 60, that promotes hunger…
The Legislature gave final approval to SB 1301 today, to set mandatory minimum life sentences for designated violent sexual predators who reoffend, 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,…
Senate Republicans – that’s all but seven members of the Senate – went behind closed doors for an hour today to talk about property tax reform in a closed majority caucus. That’s among the hottest issues hanging fire in the Senate right now – the…
Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, made an impassioned pitch to the House Thursday to let bail bond agents have an extra six months to nab and turn in bail-jumpers and still get paid, but the House killed the bill, HB 450, on a 43-23 vote.Clark…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee just unanimously approved the budget for the Idaho Women’s Commission for next year – which in itself is unusual. For years, a few committee members have objected to the idea of a women’s commission – most notably Sen. Mel Richardson, R-Idaho…
GOP leadership-backed legislation on school construction funding passed the House today on a largely party-line 52-14 vote. The bill, HB 743, puts about $5 million in new state money into school building maintenance next year, while requiring local school districts to contribute $44 million. It…
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden was back in Washington, D.C. today, where, as co-chair of the national Association of Attorneys General Tobacco Committee, he made this announcement at a news conference: U.S. cigarette sales in 2005 dropped 4.2 percent from 2004, the largest one-year percentage…
Some analysis of the plan JFAC approved this morning to fund a $200 million GARVEE bond program shows that funding for one of the Idaho Transportation Department’s top priorities – a freeway to replace the congested highway between Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint – has been…
A concurrent resolution calling for more study of a proposed high school curriculum redesign, and then addressing it legislatively next year rather than this year, was introduced today in the House Ways & Means Committee, according to S-R reporter Meghann Cuniff. Rep. Larry Bradford, who…
It’s been more than 10 years in the works, but legislation designed to let disabled people go to work without losing the very Medicaid coverage that enables them to do so just passed the House unanimously. Last year, similar legislation passed the Senate, but didn’t…
As legislative budget writers set the budget for the Idaho Secretary of State’s office this morning, Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, noted one of the line items. “As much as some people would like to skip the election this year, I think we ought to fund…
HB 707, bipartisan legislation to require those who lobby the executive branch of state government to register with the state and disclose spending just like those who lobby the Legislature, has passed the House on a unanimous, 68-0 vote.Floor sponsors Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake,…
The long fight between the state’s universities over “funding equity” – meaning the University of Idaho was seen as getting more state money comparatively when other colleges were growing faster in student populations – ended this morning. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved a budget for…
House Speaker Bruce Newcomb announced today – on his 66th birthday – that he won’t seek re-election after this session, and will retire after 20 years in the House, eight as speaker. “I’m proud of the people I served with, the trust we developed and…
HB 743, the Republican House leadership’s bill to address school facility funding, cleared the House Education Committee this morning on a 16-2 vote, after a Democratic alternative, HB 691, failed on a 4-14 vote. Rep. Mack Shirley, R-Rexburg, said, “I don’t think either bill is…
HB 415, another campaign finance reform bill proposed by Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa, just passed the Senate 35-0, after earlier unanimously clearing the House. This one prevents campaign contributors from getting around contribution limits by giving from multiple subsidiaries – which has happened…
House Speaker Bruce Newcomb had the giggles today, as the House pages honored him on the occasion of his 66th birthday, reports S-R reporter Meghann Cuniff. The House took a break for the unusual bit of business, and the pages presented Newcomb with cupcakes glowing…
Plans to amend the state Constitution to make hunting, fishing and trapping a right rather than a privilege fell short in the Senate today, getting an 18-16 vote – well short of the two-thirds required to amend the Constitution. Among the concerns: If hunting is…
House and Senate pages are kept busy during formal floor sessions, delivering messages, carrying documents back and forth and so on, but they try to do so without interfering with the debates in any way. So when Rep. Janice McGeachin, R-Idaho Falls, rose to open…
It’s been 10 years in the works, but a Medicaid buy-in bill, HB 664, just passed the House Health & Welfare Committee on a unanimous vote. The bill would allow disabled people to keep their Medicaid coverage when they go to work or increase their…
Pregnant women who illegally consume any controlled substance would be guilty of a felony, under a bill that just passed the Senate on an 18-16 vote. The bill suggests that drug court or treatment be considered for the women, but makes it clear that it’s…