The Senate was on the floor until after 7 p.m. tonight before it finally finished its amending order. It's now adjourned until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow; before adjourning, senators reordered their calendar to put HB 248, the state health insurance exchange bill, up first tomorrow.
Democratic Sens. Branden Durst, Cherie Buckner-Webb, and Dan Schmidt unsuccessfully offered amendments to SB 1147, the bill that requires that teachers get only one-year contracts. This is one of the controversial school labor laws that was proposed by the Idaho School Boards Association this year…
Sen. Branden Durst’s amendment to HB 221 has failed, with just nine senators backing it; it would have eliminated clauses letting public or private colleges and nonprofit corporations form new state-funded charter schools. Instead, the Senate has adopted Sen. John Goedde’s amendment to that section…
Sen. Branden Durst, D-Boise, proposed a competing amendment to HB 221 to also do away with the clause letting public or private colleges establish charters. Durst said “the state ought to have some say” over entities that set up charter schools, and questioned whether career…
Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, has proposed an amendment to HB 221, the charter school governance bill, to delete the clause in the bill that would allow non-profit corporations to establish state-funded charter schools in Idaho.
Sen. Branden Durst, D-Boise, said of his bonding plan for charter schools, “It gives them access to a fund that would create a low-interest loan. …We could talk about a large enough sum of money to actually be able to purchase a building or to…
The two competing amendments to HB 206, the charter school facilities funding bill, include one from Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, to cap the amount that charter schools would receive for facilities at an amount equal to the average that Idaho school districts receive from…
After both caucuses, the Democrats and the Republicans, emerged from closed-door caucuses, the Senate has now reconvened and moved into its 14th Order, where bills are amended. There are multiple, competing amendments for both HB 206, which has two amendments, and HB 221, which has…
The Senate has convened, then gone at ease for a majority party caucus. When it returns, Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis said the Senate will go into its 14th Order and amend the bills that are awaiting amendments there. Those include the two controversial charter…
The Senate Education Committee has voted 6-3 in favor of House-passed legislation to let school boards unilaterally impose terms if contract talks with teachers unions haven’t reached agreement by June 10. That was a feature of the “Students Come First” laws that voters rejected in…
After much debate, the House has passed HB 292, to make attacks on health care workers a felony with up to a five-year penalty, on a 40-27 vote. Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d’Alene, sponsored the bill in response to concerns from Kootenai Medical Center in…
The House Ways & Means Committee, which met briefly on adjournment of the House today to introduce three new bills, is meeting in the JFAC room now because that room has audio streaming to allow the public to listen in. Lobbyist Bill Roden, an attorney,…
Here’s how House members voted in the 35-33 vote to pass HB 286, the $10 million private school tax credits bill: Voting yes: Reps. Anderst, Barbieri, Barrett, Bateman, Batt, Boyle, Collins, Crane, Dayley, DeMordaunt, Denney, Gestrin, Harris, Hartgen, Holtzclaw, Horman, Loertscher, Malek, McMillan, Mendive, Monks,…
The private school scholarship tax credits bill, HB 286, has barely squeaked through the House, on a 35-33 vote. Two members of the House were absent for the vote, Reps. Fred Wood, R-Burley, and Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls.
The House is now debating HB 286, the bill to give $10 million in tax credits for donations to scholarships to send Idaho kids to private schools, with the idea that the state would save millions if kids dropped out of public schools to enroll…
The House Education Committee has voted to send SB 1133a, Sen. Marv Hagedorn’s school safety and security bill, to the House’s amending order, after hearing a series of concerns about various aspects of the bill. Several committee members said they’ve been hearing from police chiefs…
The Idaho State Board of Education announced that Peter Morrill, longtime general manager of Idaho Public Television, is retiring. Morrill will continue to serve while the state board launches a search for a replacement by the end of the summer, and will assist through the…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Big game hunters in Idaho will have a chance to bag more elk next season and more time to hunt wolves in certain parts of the state. The Idaho Fish and Game Commission…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee met this morning to vote on a series of “trailer” appropriation bills, to appropriate funds to match bills that already are making their way through the Legislature. Most have passed on fairly routine, unanimous votes; an exception was the appropriation for…
At the close of the presentations this morning on amending the Idaho Human Rights Act, before opening it up to questions, Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb, D-Boise, told the House and Senate State Affairs committees, “Sometimes these topics are undiscussable. So we appreciate the opportunity to broach…
In the Lincoln Auditorium this morning, the House and Senate State Affairs committees are assembled for a presentation about amending the Idaho Human Rights Act to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, though no bill is before the committees. “Many…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
