Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo reports that he has been appointed to the budget conference committee that will work to reconcile the differences between House and Senate budget proposals; he’s one of 21 senators on the 29-member panel, which is headed by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.,…
A board member of the Idaho health insurance exchange quit Wednesday, the same day the exchange awarded his company a no-bid contract worth up to $375,000, the Associated Press reports. Frank Chan resigned from the Your Health Idaho board to avoid the appearance of conflict…
Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson announced today that he successfully got “critical wildfire suppression funding” included in the legislation that ended the government shutdown and avoided default on the nation’s debts; Simpson, who chairs the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, has been pushing for the…
NPR reporter Jessica Robinson reports this morning that the search for missing hiker Jo Elliott-Blakeslee at Craters of the Moon – which was initially hampered by the federal government shutdown and now has stretched on unsuccessfully for more than three weeks – is turning to…
Now comes the news that after 16 days of partial government shutdown, both houses of Congress have approved a deal to end the shutdown and avoid a default on the nation’s debts, and President Barack Obama has signed it into law. Among Idaho’s four-member all-GOP…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter says Idahoans are being hurt by “federal dysfunction and mismanagement,” and he’s plenty mad about it.“Many thousands of Idahoans woke up today desperately uncertain about the future, much less their next paycheck,” Otter said in a statement. “Congress and the President…
More than 220,000 low-income Idahoans will see less money for food at the end of this month, Boise State Public Radio reports, as stimulus funds added to the national food stamp program in 2009 expire. Come Nov. 1, Idahoans who receive aid from the Supplemental…
Late yesterday afternoon, the Idaho Transportation Department announced four oversized loads from Omega Morgan would travel up Highway 95 from Lewiston to Coeur d’Alene, starting last night at 9:30, en route to I-90 to Montana. “Each shipment is 20.1 feet wide, 15.6 feet tall, 75…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Board of Correction has awarded Corizon another contract to provide medical care to the state's prison inmates. The Department of Correction and Corizon have had a rocky relationship in the past.…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Democratic lawmakers are urging the Board of Correction to put Idaho's largest prison back under state control instead of contracting with another private prison operator. The letter signed by 16 of the Legislature's…
The Idaho Transportation Board voted today to use state funds to pay contractors working on federal highway projects in Idaho if the federal government shutdown continues beyond Thursday. The alternative would be to shut down $30 million a month in federal highway projects under way…
Idaho’s homeowner’s exemption from property tax is going up, after dropping for the last four straight years, the Idaho State Tax Commission announced today. The maximum exemption for an owner-occupied Idaho home in 2014 will increase to $83,920, from the 2013 level of $81,000. It’s…
Idaho’s state Land Board has voted to reject all three proposed land exchanges, at least for now. The swaps sought to exchange state-owned cabin sites on Priest and Payette lakes for commercial property in Idaho Falls and Nampa. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden first moved to…
The state Land Board is locked in debate today about three major land exchanges, which would swap state-owned cottage sites at Priest and Payette lakes for commercial property, including buildings in Idaho Falls that house operations related to the Idaho National Laboratory, and in Canyon…
Idaho state Controller Brandon Woolf is launching his election campaign for a full term in the post today, with the state’s last two GOP state controllers – Donna Jones and Keith Johnson – joining all six of Idaho’s current GOP constitutional officers helping head up…
With his East Coast accent and tales of living in New York, Jay Shaw stood out when he moved to the tiny farm town of Marsing, Idaho, writes AP legal affairs writer Denise Lavoie in Boston, where Enrico Ponzo, known as Shaw when he lived…
Idaho’s largest charter school, the online Idaho Virtual Academy, has confirmed that it sent student essays to India for grading in 2007, Boise State Public Radio reports this morning. The 3,000-student public virtual school contracts with K12 Inc., a for-profit company, for its curriculum and…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: WASHINGTON (AP) — The Fish and Wildlife Service says it is reopening 3 million acres in wildlife refuges to allow hunting of pheasants and waterfowl. The sites, in 10 states, have been closed since Oct. 1 because…
I’ll be hitting the road next week for four IDOG open government seminars in the Wood River Valley, the Magic Valley and Eastern Idaho, designed to educate local government officials, reporters and the public on what is covered – and what is not – by…
Brad Hoaglun, longtime communications director Idaho Sen. Jim Risch (including when Risch was governor), former top aide to then-state Controller Donna Jones and then-Boise Mayor Dirk Kempthorne, longtime local Idaho GOP official and current Meridian city councilman, has been named the new director of communications…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says a Connecticut company has agreed to pay more than 7,000 Idahoans restitution as part of a settlement over bogus club memberships. The settlement announced Thursday comes in…
Idaho's state health insurance exchange, Yourhealthidaho.org, has been touting the big savings it offers Idahoans over a federal exchange, since its fee on policies has been set at just 1.5 percent, compared to 3.5 percent for federally run exchanges. But the Associated Press reports that…
A federal judge has denied motions from both a division of General Electric and the U.S. Forest Service to lift a ban on megaload shipments across a scenic stretch of U.S. Highway 12 in north-central Idaho. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill rejected arguments from…
More than 30 people turned out for a public comment session on heavy-truck rules in Lewiston yesterday, with several local officials raising concerns about the Idaho Transportation Department’s proposed process for approving new routes for extra-heavy trucks; a similar session also was held yesterday in…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter now says he’s open to ideas from legislative leaders and others on whether the state should take over running its troubled private prison, or whether a new private operator should be sought. “I’m going to listen to other people,” Otter said.…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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