Twin Falls Times-News reporter Melissa Davlin reports that a “quiet wave of kindness” is sweeping through Idaho’s Capitol. The reason: Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, is asking friends and colleagues to do 37 small acts of kindness in memory of his son, Ritchie…
House Majority Caucus Chairman John Vander Woude, R-Meridian, said freshman Rep. Ron Mendive, R-Coeur d’Alene, made a poor comparison when he linked prostitution to abortion, saying both are “a woman’s choice.” Said Vander Woude, "Rarely when a woman becomes a prostitute, is it because of…
Freshman Rep. Ron Mendive, R-Coeur d’Alene, was surprised to learn that there’s a news story out about a question he asked this morning regarding abortion and prostitution – and that it’s going viral. He attended an ACLU breakfast presentation in the Capitol this morning, and…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A lawmaker from northern Idaho drew audible gasps when he asked representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union-Idaho if their pro-abortion rights stance also means that they support prostitution. Rep. Ron Mendive, R-Coeur…
Bonner County Magistrate Judge Barbara Buchanan has been appointed a district judge by Gov. Butch Otter, making her the first woman to be appointed to the 1st Judicial District bench. Buchanan, a Sandpoint resident and Moscow native, will be the only district judge serving Bonner…
The Senate State Affairs Committee has voted to accept new rules for the state Capitol grounds and surrounding areas, but to reject sections limiting events and exhibits to certain hours and locations, along with a section limiting amplified sound. Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho…
After an hour and a half of questions, the Senate State Affairs Committee has now voted unanimously in favor of one of the three rules dockets before it, the one that deals with rules for use of the interior of buildings in the Capitol Mall,…
Psychiatric hospitalization, which includes community hospitalization for individuals committed to state custody but not yet placed in state hospitals along with State Hospital South and State Hospital North, is recommended for a 2.5 percent funding increase next year by Gov. Butch Otter, to $30.9 million,…
Legislative budget writers, continuing their hearings this week on Health & Welfare division budgets, are looking this morning at mental health, substance abuse treatment and related topics. Mental health services, including both adult and children’s mental health, is recommended by Gov. Butch Otter for $32.9…
Members of the Senate State Affairs Committee, including Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, an attorney, are grilling ACLU attorney Richie Eppink this morning about constitutional questions with the state’s proposed new Capitol grounds use rules. Under the rules, Eppink said, “Two people gathered…
After years of relentless growth, Idaho lawmakers received a budget request for the state’s Medicaid program Tuesday that’s nearly flat in state funds, and just a 7.6 percent increase overall - even though the program is expected to add roughly 70,000 new recipients next year…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Attorneys for the nation's largest private prison company have asked a federal judge in Idaho to throw out a lawsuit from inmates who say the company uses gangs to run a Boise-area prison.…
1s tDistrict Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador was scheduled to meet with House Speaker John Boehner today, but Idaho Statesman reporter Dan Popkey reports that both are mum about what was said – or if the meeting even happened as planned. Meanwhile, Boise State University political…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — Add Twin Falls and Lewiston to the list of Idaho cities to ban discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation. City councils in both cities voted Monday night for language adding sexual orientation…
What if Idaho’s Legislature only met for a short, maximum 60-day session in even-numbered years, to set a budget, and then held longer sessions of up to 150 days every other year? That’s the proposal from new Sen. Branden Durst, D-Boise, who introduced a resolution…
Idaho's annual Martin Luther King Jr.-Idaho Human Rights Day celebration in the state Capitol on Monday will feature the Rev. Percy "Happy" Watkins, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Spokane, as keynote speaker; he'll perform his rendition of King's "I Have a Dream" speech,…
The first-year experience for the Department of Health & Welfare’s “Money Follows the Person” program to move patients from institutional care to home and community care, where appropriate, has resulted in 64 patients making such moves, Paul Leary, Medicaid administrator, told JFAC this morning. Sixteen…
The first bill to come out of committee and hit the House floor this session has stalled. HB 1, the annual IRS tax code conformity bill, was voted out of the House Revenue & Taxation Committee last Thursday and sent directly to the 2ndReading Calendar…
Overall, Gov. Butch Otter is recommending $476.7 million in state general funds for Medical Assistance Services, or Medicaid, next year, which is nearly flat - just a 0.5 percent increase from this year. Total funds, at $2.0667 billion, reflect a 7.6 percent increase, largely because…
Idaho’s Medicaid program adds up to a total of $2.06 billion, between state and federal funds, Medicaid division administrator Paul Leary told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning. It takes up 81.4 percent of the Department of Health & Welfare budget. But 96.4 percent of…
Again this morning, the half of JFAC members who are first-timers on the joint budget panel have lots of questions about the budgets they’re being presented. Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, asked, “What is the child support program? What is its purpose?” H&W officials explained that…
Idaho Division of Welfare Administrator Russ Barron explained the MAGI, or Modified Adjusted Gross Income calculations, that Idaho must comply with under changes in the national health care reform law. Those change the way eligibility is calculated for the existing Medicaid program, and likely will…
Idaho is one of just five states that requires all food stamp recipients to comply with its child support program, which enforces child support orders against non-custodial parents, to reduce the need for public support. But budget holdbacks in 2010 that cut 12 positions have…
Conservative North Idaho Sen. Steve Vick has only been on the Legislature’s joint committee for a week, but on Monday, he said he saw a budget request that he views as more justified than others: Slightly raising Idaho’s low-ranking foster care reimbursements. “It seems to…
Click below for AP reporter John Miller's full report on how lawmakers in both the House and Senate balked today at voting on proposed new rules for use of the state Capitol grounds and surrounding areas, aimed at restricting public protests. The 39 pages of…
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