New Lt. Gov. Brad Little, who just was appointed to the office three weeks ago on Jan. 6, is now acting governor - at least for six hours. With Gov. Butch Otter going in for shoulder surgery this afternoon at 2, Little was assigned to…
Gov. Butch Otter went in for shoulder surgery today, after a recent team roping accident, according to the email message below that went out today to state agency heads. Click here to read a letter from First Lady Lori Otter about what happened, which says…
Senate Resources Chairman Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, a fur trader, brought a large wolf pelt to the committee hearing today and had it hung prominently on the wall as the committee prepared to hear a briefing on wolves and consider a wolf-transfer bill that Schroeder's proposed.…
The Senate has voted 27-6 in favor of SB 1014, to repeal the 2005 law that set up a state licensing system for naturopaths. It's never gone into effect, because warring groups of naturopaths have disagreed on the necessary qualifications, meaning rules to implement the…
Jon Hanian, press secretary for Gov. Butch Otter, just released this statement about the governor's work to eliminate or consolidate state commissions, including the Women's Commission:“We have been studying the idea of consolidating the administration of a number of commissions – including the Women’s Commission…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: "Power lines and railroads could be eligible for a tax break passed last year by the Idaho Legislature to allow companies to exempt the first $100,000 of their business equipment from taxes, under a bill being considered…
Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, has introduced legislation to eliminate the Idaho Women's Commission, a state agency whose existence long has been controversial. "Thirty-nine years ago they were set out to get women to be more involved in social, political and economic areas of their communities,"…
The biggest news from Idaho's state prison system is the fall-off in inmate growth, which lawmakers heard about earlier in the session when they discussed funding for the state's substance abuse services. To meet proposed budget cuts next year, Corrections Director Brent Reinke said, "Instead…
Corrections Director Brent Reinke said Idaho's prison system saved the state $4.5 million in the holdbacks earlier this year. "That's a significant cut for this agency," he said. "We're hoping that we have no unanticipated maintenance expenses occur." Among the various cuts, which included terminating…
If Idaho were to privatize its state prison at Orofino, it'd go from 37 percent privately operated beds to 43 percent, state Corrections Director Brent Reinke told JFAC. The department has sent out a "request for information" to see if such a move could save…
Lawmakers learned new details this morning about the prison riot on Jan. 2nd in which inmates wrecked a new temporary housing unit that had been set up to allow out-of-state inmates to be brought back to Idaho. There were 199 inmates in the unit at…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
