After several hours of testimony, much of it passionately opposed to the bill, the House Resources Committee has voted unanimously in favor HB 464, the oil and gas drilling bill that limits local authority over siting. Rep. Elfreda Higgins, D-Garden City, said she came to…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho State Tax Commission Chairman Bob Geddes resigned his state post this week and will return to Monsanto, his former employer. Geddes is the former Senate president pro tem who was chosen by…
Among the many testifying on HB 464, the oil and gas development bill, this afternoon was Robert Patrick, a Washington County resident. "I'm not a member of a green group, a super environmentalist group or any preservationist group," he told lawmakers. "I'm just a standard-issue…
Twenty-five people have signed up to testify this afternoon on HB 464, the oil and gas drilling bill. Rep. Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, said he and other members of the House Resources Committee "have gotten not dozens but hundreds of inquiries ... with concern…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Legislation introduced in the Idaho Senate would fine employers who don't comply with a state law requiring them to report new hires within 20 days. Idaho employers would face a $25 fine for…
Jerry Whitehead, the new chairman of the Idaho Transportation Board, was questioned by members of the Senate Transportation Committee this afternoon at his confirmation hearing about how he'd approach the issue of equity in taxes and fees charged to truckers in Idaho; Whitehead has been…
The House Resources Committee is now taking up HB 464, the controversial measure on regulation of oil and gas drilling in Idaho that asserts state supremacy over local regulation, with some limited roles for local oversight. Suzanne Budge, lobbyist for the Idaho Petroleum Council, said…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE - Legislation introduced in the Idaho Legislature would prohibit the use of indoor tanning beds by anyone under 18. KBOI-TV reports the measure, HB 486, was introduced Tuesday in the House Health and Welfare Committee. The…
Senate Republicans went into an hour-long closed-door caucus today, and when they emerged and the Senate went back into session at nearly 12:30, Democratic Sen. Les Bock of Boise moved to send HB 404, the anti-Occupy Boise bill, back to the Senate's 14th Order for…
HB 426, Rep. Steven Thayn's "8 in 6" plan, has passed the House on a 58-12 vote, with a mix of Republicans and Democrats opposing it, including House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, and Democratic Rep. Phylis King, D-Boise. House members had questions about the…
A political rivalry between two would-be Idaho governors, a fight over where Washington's capital should be, gold strikes in the Idaho Panhandle and more played into the current-day shape of the state of Idaho, according to historic maps unveiled to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee today…
The state's building alterations and repair backlog is up to nearly half a billion dollars, Tim Mason, administrator of Idaho's Division of Public Works, told JFAC this morning, a figure Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, called "mind-boggling." Mason said, "We're allocating $17 million against $80 million…
The Senate Agriculture Committee has introduced bills this morning to permit an array of now-illegal measures to target wolves that attack livestock, from aerial hunting to live bait to use of artificial light; to address dangerous dogs, in a revision of a bill that passed…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
