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Eye On Boise

Denney will be House Resources chairman

Former House Speaker Lawerence Denney, seated, talks with new House GOP Caucus Chair John Vander Woude, R-Nampa, on Friday. (Betsy Russell)
Former House Speaker Lawerence Denney, seated, talks with new House GOP Caucus Chair John Vander Woude, R-Nampa, on Friday. (Betsy Russell)

Former House Speaker Lawerence Denney is the new chairman of the House Resources Committee. "I told Scott that I want to do anything that I can to help him be successful, and if a chairmanship was what he wanted, I'd do that," Denney said. New Speaker Scott Bedke, who ousted Denney as speaker on Wednesday night, said yesterday that he wanted a "substantive" role for Denney, saying with the high number of freshman lawmakers in the House this year, “I feel very strongly that we don't have the luxury to not use our experienced legislators, including Rep. Denney.”

Denney, shown here talking with new House GOP Caucus Chair John Vander Woude, R-Meridian, said he considers the Resources Committee among the most important in a state like Idaho, but doesn't yet have specific issues he wants to address there. "It's still pretty new for me," he said.

Denney said, "I think the founding fathers made this process a great process by having this organizational session a month before we started the regular session, to give us all a month to acclimate ourselves." This year's session will include "some very substantive issues that we need to deal with, and with all the new people, I think it's going to start very slowly ... while they're all learning the ropes," he said.

For now, he said, leaving the House floor to head downstairs, "I've got to get down there and get trained to be a chairman."

The Idaho House is back in session this morning to continue its organizational session; it just briefly convened before recessing. "We're almost done, trust us - we're almost there," Majority Leader Mike Moyle told the House. "Stay close," he said. "We'll recess for a few minutes."

House GOP leaders are hoping to finalize committee assignments by 11 a.m. or so.
 



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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