Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho House lawmakers marked Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's third birthday in captivity of a Taliban-allied group in central Asia. Bergdahl is a U.S. soldier from Hailey, Idaho, taken prisoner in Afghanistan in June 2009…
Senate Republicans emerged from a 90-minute closed-door caucus with no particular announcement; they're now planning to recess the Senate for lunch. "We're just looking at how to get out of here," said Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis. "We have work ahead of us, and we're…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has signed off on a resolution recognizing the significant impact Alzheimer's disease has on thousands of Idahoans. Otter signed the resolution Tuesday in part to raise awareness of the…
The House has passed the death bill, SB 1348a, which would ensure that treatment, food and fluids aren't denied to a dying patient if the patient wants them and if they “in reasonable medical judgement will preserve the life of the patient,” on a 57-12…
The House has voted 46-22 in favor of HB 660, the judges' retirement bill, after extended debate. Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, spoke out against the bill. "The judges have an increase in pay coming - maybe that increase in pay should go to their…
Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Meridian, the lead sponsor of this year's controversial forced ultrasound bill, had this to say today about the measure's demise without a hearing in the House: "I think it's the process. The process worked." Proposed amendments to the bill, he said, "wouldn't…
The Senate has gone at ease for a majority party caucus, after completing its calendar; Majority Leader Bart Davis said "it is our hope to return" after a "fairly short period of time." At that point, he said, the Senate will take up a suspension…
The House is now debating HB 660, the judges' retirement plan bill. Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, said legislation to address funding and structural problems in the plan has failed in the House on close votes twice in the last five years. He called this year's…
The Senate has voted 19-16 in favor of SB 1256a, a controversial big-game auction tags bill that was amended in the House. Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, told the Senate, "Utah's auction tags once began the same way that 1256 proposes. ... Within last two decades,…
Idaho Statesman reporter Sean Cockerham had a profile today of Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, who is running for Congress against 2nd District GOP Congressman Mike Simpson. Cockerham wrote, "Nicole LeFavour knows what it’s like to fight incredible odds. LeFavour, Idaho’s only openly gay legislator, gave…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Senators will meet behind closed doors on a plan informally known as "35-35-35" that's being touted as the 2012 Legislature's going-home package. That's $35 million to restore teacher salaries over five years, $35…
Both the Senate and the House this morning have been working through bills on their 3rd reading calendars; Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, noted that the Senate majority will go to caucus within the hour, and said, "It is contemplated that we will…
The House Education Committee has approved HB 698, the teacher-pay bill that cancels the future "Students Come First" cuts to teacher salary funds, while setting budget priorities for fiscal year 2014 saying that the reform programs will be top priority for funding. The approval, however,…
She got the last laugh With Shirley McKague in the chair Bart Davis got caught unaware Can Senate decorum Survive such a forum? Wait 'til those reps all get there.
Here's a link to the final, updated version of my story today on the demise of SB 1387, the forced ultrasound bill. Among the comments from lawmakers included in the article: Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, a co-sponsor of the bill: "I think that the…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Foreclosure trustees would be banned from having financial interests in papers that run their legal notices, according to a bill that cleared the Senate. Tuesday's 28-6 vote sends the Newspaper Association of Idaho-backed…
Planned Parenthood has issued a statement hailing the failure of SB 1387, the forced ultrasound bill, calling the move "a victory for women in Idaho." Hannah Brass, the group's Idaho legislative director, said, “Now the legislature can return to spending the rest of the session…
After a 90-minute-plus hearing, the Senate Transportation Committee has killed HB 628a, the highway width bill, on a voice vote, but the committee also voted unanimously to call for an interim study committee on the topic. The bill, sponsored by House Assistant Majority Leader Scott…
House Democratic leaders have issued a press release blasting the decision to let the Senate-passed anti-bullying bill, SB 1358, die without a hearing in the House Education Committee. “I am dismayed that my Republican colleagues refuse to even let the bill be heard and debated,"…
Among the bills successfully amended in the House this afternoon: HB 670, Rep. Bob Nonini's bill to grant up to $10 million a year in tax credits to individuals or corporations for donations to "scholarship granting organizations" that would give scholarships for K-12 students to…
The House has reconvened and gone into its amending order, where a half-dozen bills have been hanging awaiting amendments.
The Idaho Democratic Party has sent out a news release entitled, "Invasive Assault on Women Postponed Until After the Election," on the demise of SB 1387, the forced ultrasound bill. "Don’t forget that the Idaho Senate—despite unanimous Democratic opposition and a public outcry— already passed…
House Education Chairman Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, said he met with Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, and he was supportive of Nonini's new compromise version of Cameron's legislation to cancel future teacher pay cuts required by the "Students Come First" school reform laws, while…
Right to Life of Idaho has issued a press release saying it's pulling the proposed forced ultrasound bill. "Due to misconceptions about SB 1387, the complexity of this issue, and the lack of time left in the session, we have decided to pull Senate Bill…
The Senate has voted 31-3 in favor of HJR 2, the right-to-hunt amendment to the Idaho Constitution; that's more than two-thirds, so the House-passed measure now will go to voters in November. "This is a very important step that we're taking today, and an even…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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