Committees are meeting around the Statehouse this morning, though few have substantive business as yet. The House Health & Welfare Committee meeting is packed this morning, between Health & Welfare staffers, lobbyists, reporters and citizens, as it hears an overview of the programs at the…
The Joint Legislative Oversight Committee is meeting this afternoon, and has just released a new performance evaluation report entitled “Workforce Issues Affecting Public School Teachers.” Rakesh Mohan, director of the Office of Performance Evaluations, said, “In light of current interest in public education reform, I…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Treasurer Ron Crane has revamped how he documents some of his office's expenses, after concerns raised by state auditors last year. A 2012 audit of Crane's office determined expenses from his annual…
Former eight-term lawmakers and House Resources Committee Chairman Bert Stevenson was appointed to the Idaho Water Resource Board by Gov. Butch Otter today, along with Boise water attorney Al Barker. He also reappointed former Democratic state representative and Pocatello mayor Roger Chase and Vince Alberdi…
Before Joseph Duncan murdered a 9-year-old North Idaho boy in 2005, he set his sights on a Spokane child, posing as a prospective renter and touring a Spokane duplex with the boy’s mother while ogling the child. That news emerged in federal court in Boise…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Democrats are open to a $141 million personal property tax cut proposed by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, provided there's something in it for local governments. The minority party Tuesday offered its annual…
As members of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee began digging through Gov. Butch Otter’s budget proposal this morning, Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, questioned how Otter can say the budget is structurally balanced when it doesn’t address state employee pay that lags behind market rates and a…
Condemned multiple murderer Joseph Duncan will be back in an Idaho federal courtroom today, for a retrospective competency hearing, to determine if he was mentally competent in November of 2008 when he waived his appeals. If he’s ruled competent, Duncan will go back to federal…
In a fairly big shakeup in Idaho media circles, the new Idaho Education News has announced that it’s hired Idaho Falls Post Register Statehouse reporter Clark Corbin and Idaho Statesman editorial page editor Kevin Richert as its two new staffers who will cover education news…
The Idaho Commission for Libraries has launched a new “citizen tools portal” to help people access, track and participate in state government in Idaho. It includes information on following the legislative process, accessing the courts, and finding and verifying news online. You can access the…
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the Jerome County Sheriff’s office, saying it violated the employment rights of an Army National Guard member. Mervin Jones, a corporal for the sheriff’s office, suffered a knee injury while deployed to Iraq in 2004,…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter took an upbeat tone in his sixth State of the State message to lawmakers today, urging them to start where they all agree and get things done for the state – including his proposal for Idaho to run its own health…
As he closed his “State of the State” message, Gov. Butch Otter noted Idaho’s recent ranking of second in the nation for volunteering. That’s “in our DNA,” he said. “It’s who we are. It’s who you are, and I’m proud to join you in pressing…
Gov. Butch Otter recalled Anne Veseth, the 20-year-old college student and seasonal firefighter who was killed in August while fighting a fire in Clearwater County. “We owe her and thousans like her a fighting chance while protecting our forests and rangelands,” Otter said. “That’s why…
Gov. Butch Otter departed from his prepared remarks, just as he was highlighting “the damage that federal court rulings can do to our traditional industries and our Idaho lifestyle.” The governor told lawmakers, “In fact we learned just this morning that Idaho won its case…
Idaho would build a new 579-bed secure mental health facility at the prison complex south of Boise, under a $70 million bond plan that Gov. Butch Otter is proposing to lawmakers. “More than a quarter of the inmates in our state prison system have some…
Gov. Butch Otter has called for adding five more seats to the WWAMI collaborative medical school program that allows Idaho students to attend med school at the University of Washington, with the seats targeted to a program aimed at rural areas. He also is calling…
A perhaps surprising announcement from Gov. Butch Otter: At least for now, he’s opposing expansion of Idaho’s Medicaid program largely at federal expense, though a working group he convened to study the issue called for the expansion. “There’s a lot more work to do, and…
Gov. Butch Otter defended his support for a state-based health insurance exchange. “Rejecting the opportunity to assert ourselves will result in an unresponsive, one-size-fits-all federal exchange wreaking havoc on some of America’s most reasonable costs of coverage,” Otter declared. “At its core, this is a…
The personal property tax on business equipment, which Idaho’s largest businesses are pushing hard to repeal this year, is something “nearly everyone agrees is an unfair drag on our economy,” Gov. Butch Otter told lawmakers in his State of the State message. He said, “Whether…
A legislative initiative Gov. Butch Otter is outlining is an expansion of the “Hire One Act” that he successfully pushed for in 2011. The new legislation would clarify the existing tax credit for new employees, plus add $1,000 to the employer’s credit if the new…
Gov. Butch Otter is highlighting university-business collaborations in the state and efforts at Idaho’s community colleges to address workforce development issues. He’s also paying tribute to Katie Pemberton of Canfield Middle School in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho’s 2013 teacher of the year. “She’s earned that recognition…
Education policy in the wake of the voter-rejected “Students Come First” laws is a hot-button issue as this year’s legislative session convenes, and Gov. Butch Otter had some strong things to say about it in his State of the State message. “I do NOT seek…
Otter’s first hint about the state budget he’s proposing for next year: He doesn’t want state government to grow as fast as “our economy and the people’s ability to pay for it.” Therefore, he said, his budget will call for a 3.1 percent increase in…
Gov. Butch Otter has begun his “State of the State” message to a joint session of the Idaho Legislature, and as he began, he noted the snowy weather outside. “I consider it an omen, that if God’ll help us with this and our watershed, He…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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