Former longtime Bonners Ferry mayor and city councilman Darrel Kerby is substituting for Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, today, as Keough is with her husband Mike, who is hospitalized at Kootenai Medical Center and facing major open-heart surgery on Monday. "Sen. Keough is with her husband,…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — America should reserve a place for God in the public domain and speak English when doing government business, according to a symbolic measure passed 50-17 in the House. Rep. Rich Jarvis's resolution, HCR…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Olympic cycling champion Kristin Armstrong is encouraging Idaho lawmakers to pass new safety laws she says will help curtail harassment of bicyclists across the state. The Boise resident told the Senate Transportation Committee…
The state Board of Examiners has voted unanimously to transfer $30 million from the general fund to the state's tax refund fund, to make sure the state Tax Commission can continue to pay out refunds on people's tax returns after the balance in the refund…
Click below to read the full article from AP reporter John Miller on the implications of the Medicaid budget that JFAC set this morning. Overall, it'll require Medicaid to come up with more than $47.2 million in savings next year to meet its reduced budget,…
Idaho didn't make the list of finalists for billions in "Race to the Top" federal grants, officials announced today. Idaho had applied for $120 million for its public schools, which are facing steep funding cuts next year; state Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna had touted…
Idaho's state Board of Examiners has scheduled an emergency meeting for 2 p.m. today in the governor's office to make an immediate transfer from the general fund to the state refund account, which pays out refunds due from people's tax returns. The reason: That account…
Legislation to make all hunting and fishing licenses and tags secret has passed the House on a 55-14 vote, after much debate. Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, lead sponsor of HB 531a, said it was prompted by "incredible harassment" of successful hunters during Idaho's current wolf…
The House has voted 55-15 in favor of HB 533, the bill from Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, to raise boat sticker fees for the anti-invasive species program by $2 for owners of all non-motorized boats and for owners of out-of-state motorized boats. The money…
Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, says his legislation to create an official state silver medallion that Idahoans could use to pay their state taxes could jump-start the state's economy. "There's a lot of interest in the state of Idaho right now for this kind of thing,"…
The House State Affairs Committee has voted to pass HB 589, legislation from Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, to declare guns or ammunition manufactured in Idaho exempt from all federal laws including registration. Harwood brought Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane to the committee to talk…
JFAC has now set a budget for public health services at the Department of Health & Welfare that includes cutting out funding for the adult cystic fibrosis program. The department had requested $322,500 for the program; Gov. Butch Otter recommended $150,000; but the approved budget…
JFAC has voted 16-2 in favor of complex intent language on the Medicaid budget that requires additional cost savings to be identified along a list of priorities, starting with pricing cuts and rate cuts, and then if necessary moving to benefit cuts such as waiting…
JFAC is debating the proposed intent language on Medicaid. Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, said, "We have to look at the stark reality of the economic situation that the state finds itself in." Wood said no one knows what the future holds for Idaho's economy. "As…
The lean budget proposed by Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, for Medicaid for next year has passed on a 16-2 vote in JFAC, with just Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, and Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, objecting. Wood said, "We don't know what the economy's going to do…
The Medicaid budget proposed this morning by Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, zero-funds all line items and holds Medicaid to an overall 3.1 percent increase, though it's a cut in state funding. Caseload growth is covered, but holdbacks from this year are made permanent; all pricing…
Today's task for JFAC is the toughest Health & Welfare budget: Medicaid. Reporter Colleen LaMay of the Idaho Statesman has this report today on what can be cut in Medicaid and what can't; Medicaid, the joint state-federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled,…
State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna has sent out a statement on today's budget-setting decisions in JFAC. “While no one is happy with this budget to cut public education, I am pleased we were able to come to consensus and craft a budget that will…
Gov. Butch Otter's budget director, Wayne Hammon, joined Reps. Anne Pasley Stuart, D-Boise, and Elfreda Higgins, D-Garden City, this afternoon to support HB 604, the two representatives' legislation to ban state-funded retirement bonuses in exchange for state employees agreeing to retire early. "It appears that…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on today's budget-setting decisions for public schools for next year, the biggest single slice of the state's budget pie. It's all rolled up now into a single bill, which still needs House and Senate approval and…
Controversial legislation from Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, to amend Idaho's "any willing provider" law on health insurance policies prompted much debate in the House today, keeping lawmakers on the floor debating right through the lunch hour before finally failing on a 31-39 vote. The…
The Idaho Senate has voted 27-7 in favor of SB 1381, legislation from Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, to require the Legislature to review all sales tax exemptions at least once every five years, and to make any new ones enacted after July 1, 2010 expire…
State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna said he was surprised at the last-minute clause tacked onto the public schools budget set by JFAC today, declaring a financial emergency for all school districts statewide and letting them reopen negotiated teacher contracts. "That's the first time I…
Sherri Wood, president of the Idaho Education Association, was clearly feeling betrayed after JFAC's meeting today, in which the joint committee set a budget for public schools for next year that matched an agreement worked out among education stakeholders including the IEA - but tacked…
Now JFAC has finished setting the school budget; Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, thanked legislative budget analyst Paul Headlee, the House and Senate education committee chairmen, and all the education stakeholders who participated in meetings that helped craft the blueprint for the budget, "all…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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