The House was in mid-debate, when suddenly, without warning, Hayden Lake Rep. Jim Clark’s laptop computer started playing a sprightly electronic version of “Happy Birthday.” All the legislators around Clark turned to look at him, and as the music continued, Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, shook…
As budget writers were debating the budget for the Attorney General’s office, Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, noted that the Legislature is passing another parental consent abortion bill this year. Past legislation on that topic has cost the state hundreds of thousands to defend, unsuccessfully, in…
When the budget for the portion of the Health & Welfare Department that includes State Hospital North came up this morning, some members of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee wondered why it included $40,000 for an accreditation analysis. Last year, JFAC asked State Hospital North to…
Gov. Butch Otter is negotiating with Idaho Indian tribes over gas taxes and said he doesn't want lawmakers to cut off the negotiations July 1. On Tuesday, House Speaker Lawerence Denney introduced new legislation to replace an earlier House GOP leadership bill that sought to…
The House Ways & Means Committee doesn’t often meet, but it met today. On the agenda for the leadership committee: Two new bills, one from House Speaker Lawerence Denney that’s a new version of controversial HB 188 (tribal gas tax negotiations), and one from Rep.…
Though the official record of the Rev & Tax Committee meeting today showed Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, voted in favor of a motion by Rep. Bill Killen to amend HB 245, the personal property tax phase-out bill, here was Roberts’ answer when I asked him…
Check out this report from S-R reporter Parker Howell:Just minutes after lawmakers advanced a bill this afternoon that would prohibit teen drivers from carrying more than one teenage passenger, the last of five Idaho teenagers died from injuries sustained when their vehicle plunged into a…
The House Rev & Tax Committee this morning had three proposals on its agenda for local-option taxes. The first was from the city of Lewiston, which wanted to impose its own local hotel/motel tax. “Lewiston and our region has seen a change in the economy…
The governor’s proposal to fund $15 million in new research grants through the Higher Education Research Council for research projects specifically aimed at economic development wasn’t even discussed as the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee set the budget for the state’s four-year colleges and universities this morning.…
JFAC has launched into Health & Welfare budgets, starting with the complex budgets for the newly reformed Medicaid program. A bipartisan group of senators and representatives has worked on each piece of the budget, which includes so many parts that Health & Welfare budgets will…
Victims of child sexual abuse in Idaho will have more time to sue their abusers under a bill the House passed Monday, reports S-R reporter Parker Howell. Despite concern that the legislation would expose employers to undue liability for workers' abusive acts, lawmakers voted 60-7…
Saying mothers should stay home with their children, members of a House committee have killed legislation to require minimum safety standards and criminal history checks for Idaho day-cares. “It’s gut-wrenching for me,” Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, said before the 6-5 vote against the bill. “What…
Anti-hunger advocates gathered on the Statehouse steps today, holding signs with slogans including, “No more hunger in Idaho!” “Food is a basic right” “Hungry for Justice” “Idaho is the 8th hungriest state in the nation” and “No one should suffer from hunger.” Religious leaders from…
After all that debate, all those motions, and all those numbers, here’s what the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee decided this morning on the public schools budget: They set it at $1.37 billion in state general funds, a 5.9 percent increase over this year’s budget. That’s only…
Talk about an ambitious agenda – JFAC this morning was scheduled to set the budget for public schools, parks and rec, and Medicaid, too. Certainly everyone's trying to make this a short session, but that proved a bit much. The joint committee ran well over…
Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, tried to add funding to replace 70 percent of lost Craig-Wyden funds to rural Idaho school districts to one of the motions for the public school budget – if Congress doesn’t reauthorize the payments. But her move fell short on a…
As it begins its biggest day of budget-setting of the session, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning voted 17-3 to add funding to the parks budget for next year for a $3 million bridge at Eagle Island State Park and for $2.14 million to purchase…
The House has voted 47-19 in favor of HB 184A, a Republican bill to tie Idaho’s state minimum wage to the federal minimum wage – which it already matches – and to keep a “tip credit” that allows tipped employees to be paid as little…
Gov. Butch Otter was asked today, at the City Club of Boise, whether he supports early-childhood education, as in pre-kindergarten, as part of Idaho’s public school system. Here’s his answer:“I am supportive of pre-kindergarten education, but not at the state level. And let me tell…
Two and a half hours into the House Health & Welfare Committee’s meeting today, the panel finally took up HB 163, Rep. George Sayler’s bill to impose at least minimal health and safety regulations and criminal background checks on all Idaho day-care providers who care…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter took on the “RealID” act of 2005 today, describing it as a “terrible idea” that came from his own Republican Party, a $39 million boondoggle for the state of Idaho and akin to the original Patriot Act, which he opposed. “This…
Funerals for both soldiers and gay people may become off-limits to disruptive protesters under a bill lawmakers advanced Wednesday, reports S-R reporter Parker Howell. Sponsored by Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest River, HB 194 aims to prevent anti-war protesters from disrupting Idaho military funerals, as they…
Thank S-R reporter Parker Howell for the following report:Members of the House State Affairs Committee heavily razzed Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, this morning for bringing them another bill for consideration. The committee is one of a few with the privilege to introduce legislation this…
The Senate has just voted 30-4 in favor of SB 1056, legislation to remove the current one-mile residency limit on who can testify at a public hearing on siting of a confined animal feeding operation. The current law says only those whose primary residence is…
There was so much testimony for and against that the big hearing in the Gold Room this morning on HB 206, IACI’s bill to eliminate the personal property tax over the next eight years, was continued to Friday. The House Rev & Tax Committee will…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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