In the hallway of the Senate chamber, empty cardboard boxes are piled up - a sure sign that the end of Idaho's 2011 legislative session is approaching. The boxes are for lawmakers and staffers to pack their things in when they leave the Statehouse at…
There's a big turnout this afternoon at the informational hearing that House Democrats are holding on legislation to increase Idaho's cigarette tax - more than 60 people are in the room, and there are people testifying both for and against the bill. Practically the entire…
The Senate has voted 27-8 in favor of HB 193a, the amended version of Rep. Dick Harwood's pro-megaloads bill to require a big cash bond before anyone can sue to block one of the loads. The bill originally required a cash bond equal to 5…
The Senate has voted 25-10 to pay $100,000 to the Idaho Republican Party for its attorney fees in its successful lawsuit against Idaho's primary election law, a settlement that was reached between the state and the party, revising the amount down from close to $144,000.…
The Senate has voted unanimously in favor of HB 129a, the day-care regulation bill. Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, said amendments to the bill simplified it and made sure that it addressed complaints about the existing law that have been coming in from day-care providers around…
The House has voted 49-20 in favor of HB 341, the Health & Welfare budget bill, after a debate that mostly featured objections to the big budget bill, which incorporates numerous smaller pieces that were debated separately in JFAC. House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston,…
The House Education Committee this morning sent HB 335 and HB 336, both "trailer" bills to add emergency clauses to the already-enacted school reform laws SB 1108 and SB 1110, to the full House for votes, and introduced a third measure to add an emergency…
At the close of today's informational hearing on HB 19, the medical marijuana bill, Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, the bill's sponsor, said, "Medical marijuana is a controversial issue, but we felt if we could get some dialogue and discussion started at the state level, we'd…
The House Health & Welfare Committee is hearing wrenching testimony today from patients about their health conditions as part of its continued informational hearing on Rep. Tom Trail's medical marijuana bill, HB 19. Many have said medical marijuana would alleviate their suffering and remove the…
House and Senate Democrats held a joint press conference just now to announce that the "slowdown showdown" is over - House Democrats won't continue to demand full reading of bills before they're considered in the House - but that they're anything but happy over the…
The House and Senate have now both recessed until 3 p.m., the House doing so just after sponsor Rep. Fred Wood's lengthy opening explanation of HB 341, the Health & Welfare budget bill. Debate on that measure will continue this afternoon when the House reconvenes.
The House is taking up the Health & Welfare budget, HB 341, a huge and complicated budget that includes the Medicaid program. Overall, it totals $564.8 million in state general funds next year, a 29.5 percent increase, but that's largely because of a drop in…
The House was on the verge of killing HB 314, Rep. Steven Thayn's bill to eliminate public funding for driver's training in schools, when House Education Chairman Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, abruptly asked to return the bill to the House Education Committee. Minority Leader John…
House Democrats had objected to waiving the full reading of HB 95a, the amended urban renewal bill, and the bill text was being read when House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, interrupted. Rusche said the Democrats still want hearings on bills to raise the state's…
House Democrats, rebuffed in their efforts to get a hearing on legislation to raise Idaho's 57-cent-per-pack cigarette tax by $1.25 a pack, have scheduled their own informational hearing on the issue this afternoon, at 4:30 in the House Health & Welfare committee room, Room EW…
The Senate State Affairs Committee introduced a new bill this morning, as a result of concerns that the compromise bill on renewable energy tax rebates, HB 337, includes multiple subjects. That bill already has passed the House, but hasn't had a Senate committee hearing. Sen.…
Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, has persuaded the Senate State Affairs Committee to introduce a bill - though he said he doesn't plan to proceed further with it this year - to issue additional GARVEE bonds to upgrade ailing Idaho bridges. The measure calls for issuing…
HB 298, the bill that's being referred to as the "grandson of nullification," has passed the Senate State Affairs Committee on a rather unenthusiastic, divided voice vote. Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens; Wayne Hoffman, executive director of the Idaho Freedom Foundation; and a citizen who…
The House Education Committee has introduced new legislation to add an emergency clause to SB 1184, the sweeping school reform bill that just passed the House on Friday. Jason Hancock, aide to state schools Supt. Tom Luna, asked by committee members about the impact of…
The Senate State Affairs Committee has voted 5-4 in favor of HB 191, the bill to allow licenses for off-track betting on simulcasts of live horse races to be transferred off of local fairgrounds racetrack facilities to more suitable locations. All the testimony on the…
The House Education Committee has voted to introduce new legislation to remove the cap on formation of new charter schools each year, currently set at six, but rejected a move to send the new bill straight to the full House without a hearing. Rep. Brian…
On tonight's “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television, I join Dr. Jim Weatherby and Idaho Press-Tribune Editor Vickie Holbrook, along with host Greg Hahn, to discuss the events of the week, and Greg interviews Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill and House Speaker Lawerence Denney, along…
That hastily called meeting of the House Ways & Means Committee today? It was to introduce two bills: One on wind turbine siting restrictions (see item below), and one declaring a wolf disaster. Here's what AP reporter John Miller reports on the wolf emergency bill:…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Wind farms would be forbidden within two miles of a residential property without the owner's permission, according to a measure that proposes strict new limits on where the tall turbines could be built.…
Perhaps I should explain. There's a long tradition among the Statehouse press corps that when they deem the session has gone on long enough, they begin donning ugly ties in an effort to so shock and horrify the legislators that they'll wrap up their business…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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