Teens who are learning to drive would be banned from talking on cell phones while they drive during the six-month driving practice period prescribed under Idaho’s graduated drivers license law, under a bill that cleared the House Transportation Committee yesterday on a 9-7 vote; the…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter says giving Idaho management control of some federal land in the state would make forests healthier and potentially reduce the size and intensity of wildfires. Otter testified Tuesday in…
The Senate Health & Welfare Committee has endorsed legislation designed to localize and streamline behavioral health services offered through the state Department of Health & Welfare, reports Twin Falls Times-News reporter Melissa Davlin, who noted that committee Chairman Lee Heider, R-Twin Falls, called the measure…
Idaho had the highest percentage of minimum-wage workers in the nation in 2012, according to the Idaho Department of Labor. The department announced today that new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 31,000 of Idaho’s 404,000 hourly workers – 7.7 percent…
House Education Chairman Reed DeMordaunt, R-Eagle, just asked for and received unanimous consent from the House to return HB 206, the charter school facilities funding bill, to the House Education Committee. “There were some procedural questions on this bill in committee,” DeMordaunt told the House.…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Lawmakers fearful the U.S. Supreme Court might one day reverse itself on the issue of individual gun rights aim to change the Idaho Constitution's definition of a militia to include all the state's…
Legislation seeking to transfer federal lands into state ownership likely won't be ready this year, Lewiston Tribune reporter Bill Spence reports; he reports that House Resources Chairman Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, now is looking to an interim legislative committee to draft such a bill. Click below…
The House has voted 40-28 in favor of HB 123, the bill from the state’s court system to remove the “sunset,” or expiration date, from the emergency surcharge that was added to infraction, misdemeanor and felony offenses in 2010 to keep courts operating despite the…
SB 1074, the bill to allow a special liquor license for the Caldwell Night Rodeo, has passed the Senate on a 27-8 vote. It expands a 1984 law that crafted a special liquor license for the Lewiston Roundup, by adjusting the acreage and city-limits rules…
The House State Affairs Committee was bowled over today by one of the most persuasive pitches for a bill so far this legislative session – and it came from a 12-year-old. “Idaho is home to many amazing amphibians,” sixth-grader Ilah Hickman told the committee. “One…
Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, is proposing a new version of his unsuccessful bill from last year to grant a tax credit for donations to scholarships for Idaho students to attend to private schools, saying the move will save money by having fewer students enroll…
More tight state agency budgets were set this morning for the department of Juvenile Corrections and the Idaho State Police. Approved on unanimous votes in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee,, the budgets generally match Gov. Butch Otter’s recommendations. For juvenile corrections, legislative budget writers approved the…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee set budgets this morning for the governor’s office and the legislative branch, and due to statutory requirements, both of those include salary boosts for elected officials. Specifically, the governor’s salary was required by law to rise from $115,348 to $117,000 on…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
