The Senate was on the floor until nearly 6:30 tonight, and worked through 31 pieces of legislation today. The reason: They’re pushing to try to meet the goal of a March 29 adjournment sine die. “It is doable,” said Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis. He…
The House has voted 67-2 in favor of HB 315, the new business personal property tax relief bill. The only dissenters were Reps. John Gannon, D-Boise, and Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow. Rep. Hy Kloc, D-Boise, missed the vote. “This could be an economic driver for our…
Rep. Marc Gibbs, R-Grace, said his position on this issue has been clear all session, as “Caribou County is affected the most of any county in the state,” and the Soda Springs school district is hit harder than any other by a potential loss of…
Rep. Mark Patterson, R-Boise, spoke out in favor of HB 315, the business personal property tax relief bill. He decried Idaho’s low rates of personal income compared to other states. “We’re rotting on the vine,” Patterson said. “Something isn’t right, and it’s our taxing policies.…
Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, spoke out against HB 315, the business personal property tax relief bill. “The voters have repeatedly said in the last five elections that they want the public schools supported,” Gannon told the House. “This last week … 36 of 41 measures…
House Rev & Tax Chairman Gary Collins, R-Nampa, told the House, “HB 315 removes the business personal property tax from approximately 90 percent of Idaho businesses.” Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, co-sponsor with Collins on the bill, said, “This issue’s been around all session. We’ve…
The House is in session and has voted 66-2 to suspend its rules and allow HB 315, the personal property tax bill, to be considered immediately. The two “no” votes on the suspension of rules were from Reps. Cindy Agidius, R-Moscow, and Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow.
The Senate Commerce Committee has overwhelmingly approved HB 248, the governor’s state insurance exchange bill. Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, moved to approve the bill, sending it to the full Senate with a recommendation that it “do pass.” “I believe that our only option is this…
Among those testifying at this afternoon’s health insurance exchange hearing: Chad Inman told the Senate Commerce Committee, “The lies will come out and be told, as they’re continuing to be told right now.” Corey Surber of St. Alphonsus Health System called the state exchange “a…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has set a meeting for tomorrow morning at 8, to consider a series of “trailer” appropriation bills to provide funds for legislation that already is passing. Those range from SB 1079, to set up an Internet Crimes Against Children Unit in…
The Senate Commerce Committee has opened its hearing this afternoon in the Abraham Lincoln Auditorium on HB 248, the House-passed version of the governor’s state health insurance exchange legislation. Committee Chairman John Tippets, R-Montpelier, said the committee has only until 3 p.m. for its hearing…
The House Ways & Means Committee met just after the House adjourned today, and approved introduction of three new bills: One from Reps. Monks and Moyle to require notification to parents when an autopsy is performed on a minor; one from Rep. Tom Loertscher regarding…
The House has recessed for lunch, but plans to come back on the floor at 3:30 – and to suspend its rules and take up HB 315, the new bill, just introduced yesterday, to exempt the first $100,000 in business equipment for each taxpayer in…
The House has voted 57-13 in favor of HJM 2, a non-binding memorial calling on the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on indecency on television. Rep. Darrell Bolz, R-Caldwell, said an individual from Canyon County has been pushing for several years for the Legislature…
The House Education Committee has killed legislation proposed by its chairman, Rep. Reed DeMordaunt, on a tied 8-8 vote, reports Clark Corbin of Idaho Education News; the bill, HB 307, sought to tie strings to the public schools budget specifying that the restoration of 1.67…
With no debate, the House passed the tax-exemption bill for Girl Scout cookies on a 59-11 vote. Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, said, “Cookies are about a quarter of the price of a box of cookies themselves. The remainder of that cost is actually the…
The House State Affairs Committee has approved SCR 112, the anti-marijuana resolution, on a voice vote, sending it to the full House. Rep. Holli Woodings, D-Boise, asked to be recorded as voting no. The vote came after lots of testimony, most of it in favor…
“Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States,” Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, told the House State Affairs Committee this morning, pitching his SCR 112, a Senate-passed resolution declaring that it’s the position of the Idaho Legislature that the state should never…
The House State Affairs Committee has voted along party lines to approve HCR 22, a resolution demanding that the federal government “imminently transfer title to all of the public lands within Idaho’s borders directly to the state of Idaho.” The resolution says the state would…
Rep. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, moved to send HB 315 to the full House with a recommendation that it “do pass.” Rep. Stephen Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, said for anyone watching the legislative process for an academic paper, this issue would “certainly be a great one on…
The testimony at this morning’s business personal property tax hearing so far is all in favor; representatives of the Idaho Association of School Administrators and Idaho School Boards Association have spoken, along with Boise County Assessor Brent Adamson and Payette County Treasurer Donna Peterson. Adamson…
The House Rev & Tax Committee has convened at the unaccustomed hour of 7:30 a.m. today, to hear HB 315, the latest personal property tax relief bill from the Idaho Association of Counties. “We hope it provides a path forward for the Legislature to deal…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
