JFAC is now debating between competing motions on state personnel cost cuts - both of which would eliminate the 3 percent across-the-board pay cuts for state employees the panel approved earlier, in favor of just leaving discretion to agency directors on how to make the…
JFAC has voted to transfer $30 million from the budget stabilization fund to the general fund, to balance the budget they've already set for next year. "This is what's required to balance the budget," said Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert. The transfer would be made by…
For fiscal year 2010, JFAC has passed a motion to give the governor authority to tap another $50 million in reserve funds if needed to make up budget shortfalls - half from the state's main reserve fund, the other half from the public education stabilization…
JFAC has decided to provide several "tools" to Gov. Butch Otter to use if state revenues continue to slip this fiscal year after lawmakers leave town. "We're looking at 2009 - we're going to be out of here before it ends," Co-Chair Maxine Bell, R-Jerome,…
Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, has proposed a compromise resolution on funding for cystic fibrosis treatment for adults in Idaho. Legislation to cut the treatment off passed the Senate, but stalled in the House Health & Welfare Committee. Wood said the program serves fewer than 50…
You may have noticed that though Boise is in the Mountain time zone, I'm blogging in Pacific time, according to the time stamps on the posts. That's because the Spokesman-Review's servers are in Spokane - in the Pacific time zone. So just add an hour...
Before the JFAC meeting started today, Rep. Janice McGeachin, R-Idaho Falls, asked what would happen if the joint committee runs out of time this morning, with all the big decisions before it. Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron said the panel just needs to get its…
Among the technical fixes and trailer bills being approved by JFAC this morning is one to give Parks & Rec spending authority to run the new quagga and zebra mussel boat sticker program, which has passed both houses and has an emergency clause. The parks…
As JFAC got ready for its 8 a.m. (Boise time) meeting this morning, Co-Chair Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, noted that though it was past time, few members as yet were in their seats. "Would any of you in the audience like to join us?" she asked…
At their early-morning work session before JFAC this morning, lawmakers struggled a bit to be clear on what exactly the governor's favoring. "I'm not sure we know what makes him happy at this point," Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, commented, but noted that lawmakers still are…
Sen. Russ Fulcher made an unexpected announcement at the close of today's Senate session: When the Senate debated through the noon hour today on HB 256, the bill to cut state reimbursements to school districts for their student busing costs, somehow the wrong draft went…
By a single vote, a Senate committee has killed legislation sponsored by Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, to retroactively change an Idaho law reaching back to 1998, to help the Idaho State Insurance Fund in a class-action lawsuit that it lost at the Idaho Supreme…
The Senate has voted 28-6 in favor of SB 1186, the $82 million GARVEE bonding proposal for major road projects. Sen. Monty Pearce, R-New Plymouth, spoke out against the bill. "We're talking about our children and our grandchildren. We're placing debt on them," he said.…
The Senate has agreed to suspend its rules and take up the $82 million GARVEE bonding program for highways for next year. Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, opening the debate, said between the bonding program and the federal stimulus, "We can put a lot of…
The House Resources Committee has voted 13-5 in favor of SB 1141a, the amended bill to raise Fish & Game fees. As amended in the Senate, the bill only raises fees on out-of-state hunter and anglers, while leaving in-state fees alone. While several representatives bemoaned…
People are spilling out the doorway and standing around outside in the foyer for the liquor license bill hearing in the House Judiciary Committee this afternoon. The bill, SB 1148, passed the Senate on March 26 on a 23-12 vote; a task force convened by…
Out of all the amendments proposed, just one set, sponsored by Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, and John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene and developed by Jason Hancock of the state Department of Education, has passed the Senate to amend HB 256, the bill to cut state reimbursements…
The Senate is locked in debate on an array of amendments to HB 256, the bill that cuts state reimbursement to school districts for their student busing costs. The amendments would do everything from strike the bill's enacting clause, to cut out a clause that…
It's not actually in the bill, but for some reason, there's been a continuing typo in the House calendar in reference to SB 1159, legislation proposed by Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, to eliminate what he says is a financial incentive for school districts to…
Legislation to make several changes in the way Idaho funds catastrophic health care costs for the indigent - including upping the deductible for counties from $10,000 per case to $11,000, while instituting cost-saving measures - has passed the House on a 54-15 vote, but only…
The budget bill for the state Department of Environmental Quality, a tiny piece of which includes funding authorization to begin implementation of the Coeur d'Alene Lake Management Plan, has passed the House on a 53-16 vote. Just last Friday, several lawmakers spoke out against the…
The House has just delayed consideration of HB 135a, the bill to increase the gas tax, until Thursday. Majority Leader Mike Moyle asked for unanimous consent for the delay, and no one objected.
Rep. Phil Hart's bill aimed at imposing liability against those who bring "dangerous or vicious animals" into Idaho that cause damage to people or property also would make it a felony for anyone to knowingly give false or misleading testimony to a local Planning &…
Rep. Marge Chadderdon, R-Coeur d'Alene, who said yesterday she was introducing a new version of her flag manufacturing bill, instead today urged the House to pass it as-is, and they did, 67-0. "I know you're waiting for this bill," Chadderdon told the House. She said…
The Idaho State Board of Education has approved fee hikes ranging from 5 to 7 percent for Idaho state universities for next year. At the University of Idaho, the fees called "matriculation fees," since UI can't charge "tuition," will rise 6.5 percent, to $4,934 for…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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