The often-crowded halls of the Capitol Annex are close to abandoned this afternoon. The Senate finished its session this morning, and now there's almost no one around. House Speaker Lawerence Denney, who was chatting with a casually dressed Rep. Cliff Bayer in the third floor…
Sen. Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home, urged the Senate to back the amended version of SB 1112a, the day care licensing bill, despite numerous problems he highlighted with the House amendments. "I'm still asking you to support it, with the fiscal impact, with all the errors,…
Here's a link to my full story in today's Spokesman-Review on the wild events of the 108th day of the Idaho's 2009 legislative session. And now, it's the 109th day. The Senate is in session, but the House isn't.
Sen. Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home, asked unanimous consent that the Senate concur in the amendments to SB 1112a, the day care licensing bill. "This is a tough thing for me to ask you to do, but I'm going to ask you to concur," Corder told…
Democrats from the House and Senate held a news conference this morning to object to the House Republicans' move last night to attempt to unilaterally adjourn the legislative session. "The Legislature is constructed to have a balance of power between the houses, and both balance…
In one of the strangest moments yet in this year's most unusual legislative session, the House finished its calendar and attempted to adjourn sine die, which means without a day to come back. But when the House sent its formal delegation to the Senate to…
SB 1166, a controversial bill to retroactively alter provisions regarding the state insurance fund, just passed the House 50-16. That's the last bill the House is taking up tonight. Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, announced that a barbecue scheduled for tomorrow is being put off…
The House has voted 52-13 in favor of HB 334, which raises an array of DMV fees by a total of $13.1 million a year. Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, told the House the Idaho Transportation Department had provided plenty of data to show the increase…
Day-care licensing legislation has won passage in the House on a 61-5 vote, after Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d'Alene, spent five years relentlessly, but until now unsuccessfully, proposing it. "This is good legislation - it meets the needs of parents for safe child care," Sayler…
The House took up its first duplicate budget bill - one of those that the House Appropriations Committee introduced the same day that JFAC had introduced an identical bill. Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, objected. "It is a concern that I have and several in…
On SB 1232a, the second version of the bighorn sheep bill - the earlier one was vetoed, then the new one was introduced, then amended in the Senate, then sent to the House - Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, told the House, "I have to tell…
House members gathered for pizza in a back room during a short break, showing what a long night they have ahead trying to clear their agenda. So far, they've already passed more than 30 bills, but at least a dozen and a half more remain…
The Senate has adjourned until tomorrow morning, after receiving the election consolidation bill and referring it for a committee hearing later this week. "We made some great progress today," said Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls. "We got those education bills all passed. This…
The Senate has voted 32-1 in favor of HB 311, the budget for the Idaho Transportation Department. The bill passed the House 52-14 about two weeks ago, but has been hanging on the Senate calendar awaiting a vote as the two houses wrangled over transportation…
The House has voted 51-15 in favor of HB 372, the new version of the election consolidation bill. The sweeping, 98-page piece of legislation would consolidate Idaho elections to four dates. In the new version, the state would cover the costs, rather than requiring school…
The House has passed the resolution calling for an interim committee to study transportation funding; HCR 31 passed on a 61-5 vote. "We think it's a step to bring this transportation discussion to a close for this session," House Majority Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly,…
Gov. Butch Otter has issued the following statement in response to the House leadership's press conference this afternoon: “I appreciate that they now are about one-third of the way to where we need to go, and are acknowledging the need. But we have put off…
The Senate has given the same vote - 26-7 - to the third public school appropriation bill, HB 325, for the operations division, matching the vote on the two earlier divisions. Again, there was emotional debate. "I'm very sad to be part of the first…
The House has voted unanimously, 64-0 - with no debate - to pass HB 338, the new bill to eliminate the fuel tax exemption for ethanol.
The debate on the second public school budget bill, for the division of teachers, was an emotional one in the Senate. Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, said, "I've always supported education ... yet there are those that believe we're the bad guys in this economic stress.…
The Senate has reconvened and is taking up the five public school budget bills that earlier passed the House. The first one, on the division of administrators, passed on a 26-7 vote, with opposition coming from the Senate's six Democrats who are present and Sen.…
Senate Transportation Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell, had this reaction to the House plan for an interim committee to study transportation funding: "I'm trying to think of an issue over the last two years that has been studied and talked about more than transportation funding. Every…
House GOP leaders called a press conference to announce that they plan to adjourn sine die tonight. "Our plans are to complete our work and adjourn sine die later this afternoon or this evening," said Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly. Before leaving, he said, the House…
The House Ways & Means Committee has voted 4-3 in three straight party-line votes to introduce three new bills: A compromise on election consolidation, with the state covering school district and local government costs; a concurrent resolution calling for an interim committee to study transportation…
The House Resources Committee is addressing the new bighorn sheep bill that came over from the Senate, while Ways & Means has three new bills on its agenda: A compromise on election consolidation, in which the state would cover school district costs for all four…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
| April 2009 | ||||
| 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 |
| 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 |
| 14 | 13 | 10 | 09 | 08 |
| 07 | 06 | 05 | 03 | 02 |
| 01 |
