The House Revenue & Taxation Committee has put off a vote on HB 35, legislation from Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, designed to let the Kootenai Technical Education Campus in Rathdrum open a year earlier than it could otherwise, until Tuesday. Committee members said they…
Idaho's child immunization rate has gone up by 10 percent since last year, when it was the worst in the nation. State public health division Administrator Jane Smith said three pieces of legislation that lawmakers enacted last year helped: A new mechanism for funding vaccines,…
The state's budget shortfalls have forced millions in cuts at the state's psychiatric hospitals, State Hospital South and State Hospital North, with "disturbing" results, Kathleen Allyn, division administrator at Health & Welfare, told JFAC this morning. "The hospitals have difficulty staffing the units at safe…
Two bills targeting labor unions promoted by Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, conflict with federal laws and could land the state in court, according to an Idaho attorney general's opinion. Nevertheless, a Senate committee passed one of the two measures on Wednesday, sending it on…
Former North Idaho state Rep. Jeff Alltus is back in the Statehouse, this time as a lobbyist. Alltus says he's representing convenience stores that oppose a cigarette tax increase; North Idaho activist Larry Spencer also has donned a lobbyist's green tag and joined the fight.…
The House minority leadership has issued a strongly worded statement on the newly introduced "nullification" bill today, headed, "Majority Lawmakers Waste Taxpayer Dollars and Time on Nullification." In the statement, Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, said, “Though we often see meaningless grandstanding in the Statehouse,…
Idaho's state Human Rights Commission has endorsed legislation adding sexual orientation to the state's anti-discrimination law, a key move since two years ago, the commission opposed such legislation - and lawmakers refused even to introduce it. This year, the legislation's already been introduced, and Senate…
Idaho Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, is a first-time lawmaker who stepped into the spotlight in a big way today, proposing the controversial "nullification" bill on health care reform in the House State Affairs Committee, and then fielding media interviews for several hours afterward. "I've…
Idaho state and local governments could be forbidden to require bidders on public works projects to pay their workers pre-determined wages and benefits, under legislation that cleared a Senate committee today, the AP reports. SB 1006, sponsored by Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, cleared the…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho lawmakers will at least debate joining the nationwide effort to tax Internet sales following a 12-6 vote in favor of introducing the measure in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. Wednesday's vote…
Boise State University President Bob Kustra, who is giving his budget presentation to lawmakers this morning, says BSU has increased the number of students choosing STEM majors - science, technology, engineering or mathematics - by 35 percent in the past four years. Fall 2010 enrollment…
On a straight party-line vote, with all 15 Republicans on the committee voting in favor and all four Democrats voting against, the House State Affairs Committee has voted to introduce legislation seeking to "nullify" the federal health care reform bill. You can read our full…
Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, told the House State Affairs Committee this morning, "The federal health care laws recently passed by the U.S. Congress have invaded the traditional sovereign powers of the state. This bill declares that this intrusion by the federal government is ...…
As the House State Affairs Committee convenes this morning, Rep. Elfreda Higgins, D-Garden City, noted that there's a copy of a book before each lawmaker on the committee, entitled "Nullification" by Thomas Woods. Higgins noted that under the committee's rules, members need to know who…
About 40 University of Idaho students are down in Boise from Moscow, along with college deans, officials and more, including UI President Duane Nellis, and they're offering displays and breakfast in the fourth-floor capitol rotunda, where they're sharing information about the university and its programs.…
College of Western Idaho President Bert Glandon shared a rapid-fire series of a dozen success stories involving his college's students, including people who never thought they'd attend college and now are building successful careers, people who overcame family and financial struggles and more. Music played…
College of Western Idaho President Bert Glandon is the next to make his budget pitch to lawmakers this morning; he'll be followed by College of Southern Idaho President Jerry Beck. After the community colleges, BSU President Bob Kustra is scheduled to address JFAC. Glandon told…
Given the budget and staffing pressures at North Idaho College, Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, asked NIC President Priscilla Bell if the college is seeing more students fail and drop out. Bell's answer: No. In fact, NIC's retention rates remain above the state average and above…
Among the questions that JFAC members had this morning for NIC President Priscilla Bell, Sen. Mitch Toryanski, R-Boise, said he was surprised to learn that the college provides some customized workforce training for local employers. "There was a time when companies would train their own…
Priscilla Bell, president of North Idaho College, is making her budget presentation to JFAC this morning, and her news is dramatic: Student enrollment, measured by total head count, has soared from about 3,500 when she started at the college in 2007, to some 6,700 this…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how a group of Idaho lawmakers, including freshman Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, is pushing ahead with plans to introduce legislation tomorrow to "nullify" the federal health care reform law, even though an Idaho attorney…
Senate Education Committee Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, just announced that two bills that are part of state schools Supt. Tom Luna's sweeping education reform plan will be posted on the superintendent's website on Thursday "to give interested parties opportunities to read the bills." Then,…
The Idaho Statesman's Brian Murphy reports that a new Idaho Attorney General's opinion says "nullification" legislation - like the bill in the works in the Idaho House that seeks to "nullify" the federal health care reform law - would violate both the U.S. Constitution and…
Lt. Gov. Brad Little reported to the Senate Transportation Committee today on the findings of the governor's transportation funding task force, which concluded that Idaho's roads and bridges need $543 million worth of work, but that no funding increases should be proposed now in the…
A package of four bills designed to modernize Idaho's state leasing rules for geothermal development on state lands was introduced today, on unanimous votes in the House Resources Committee. "Basically it'll modernize our geothermal leasing statutes, we feel, to incentivize development in a timely manner,"…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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