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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Double deja vu in the House

House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, and Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, center, confer as the House passes eight budget bills Monday for the third time. All were bills that had passed and been vetoed, then passed as House-only versions that hadn't come through JFAC, and then finally passed as JFAC bills sent over after Senate passage. (Betsy Russell / The Spokesman-Review)
House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, and Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, center, confer as the House passes eight budget bills Monday for the third time. All were bills that had passed and been vetoed, then passed as House-only versions that hadn't come through JFAC, and then finally passed as JFAC bills sent over after Senate passage. (Betsy Russell / The Spokesman-Review)

The House went into session and passed eight appropriation bills - all bills they were passing for the third time. The first time, they got vetoed by the governor. The second time, the bills had been cobbled together by the House Appropriations Committee without its Senate half, to make up the usual Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. The third time, today, they were the new JFAC versions of the budget bills. The House then adjourned, and both parties headed into caucus. House Speaker Lawerence Denney said, "I think we're going to finish our business and go home again. At some point, we can't pass the gas tax and that's just pure and simple, and as long as that's part of what has to happen for us to go home, we may be here for a long time." For now, though, the House has adjourned until 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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