The $14.45 million problem with the Idaho Education Network, in which federal “e-rate” funding the state expected never came in, apparently is related to the Syringa Networks lawsuit over the award of the contract to run the IEN to Education Networks of America. Sen. Shawn…
State Department of Administration Director Teresa Luna is requesting a supplemental appropriation of $14.45 million for unexpected costs for the Idaho Education Network – about half of that for the current year, and half for next year – after the state failed to receive federal…
Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf says the transparency website he launched last year, making large quantities of state data available online for free, has been popular. “Since launching the site, the volume of public records requests my office has received has gone down significantly,” Woolf…
Idaho would shift many of its current misdemeanor crimes to infractions, under legislation introduced today by Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, including land use violations and building code violations. Luker told the House Judiciary Committee that Idaho only had misdemeanors and felonies until the “’80s or…
Cleanup of mining wastes in the most-contaminated part of the Coeur d’Alene Basin appears to be working, Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality chief told state lawmakers today, after a big push to test kids' blood lead levels in the Kellogg area once again this past…
Just as Idaho lawmakers are considering allowing higher speed limits – up to 80 mph – on some stretches of interstate freeway in the state, a Utah lawmaker is declaring that state’s experiment with test sections with limits of up to 80 mph a success,…
A sweeping anti-metal theft bill that lawmakers passed last year would be amended, after a group including scrap metal dealers, agriculture interests, utilities and more worked over the summer on refinements. This afternoon, the House Judiciary Committee vote unanimously to introduce the new bill, brought…
Gay-rights activists were stymied again this year in winning a hearing to add discrimination protections to the Idaho Human Rights Act, reports AP reporter John Miller, but now, however, they say a separate bill seeking to do what they call the opposite — to bolster…
Pamm Juker was the chief clerk of the Idaho House for a decade, so she’s plenty familiar with the legislative process. But she was in a new role at the Capitol today, when she delivered the annual budget presentation for the state Department of Agriculture.…
Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb, D-Boise, a noted jazz singer, will headline this year’s annual Boise High Chamber Orchestra benefit concert this Friday, singing with longtime BSU professor of piano Del Parkinson, a recipient of the Idaho Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the Boise…
Today is the Idaho Coalition of Home Educators’ annual “Pie Day” at the state Capitol, when fresh-scrubbed home-school students set up displays around the 4th floor rotunda highlighting their schoolwork and projects, and volunteers hand out slices of 150 home-baked pies. Before the House adjourned…
Raise Idaho speed limits on some roads to 80 mph? That’s what Senate leaders are mulling, the Idaho Statesman’s Dan Popkey reports today. Popkey writes that Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, broke the news about the pending bill in a talk yesterday to the…
Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality workforce has dropped significantly since 2010, when the DEQ had more than 380 employees, to a proposed 355 for next year. But the department’s not asking to boost that back up; instead, Director Curt Fransen’s budget request, presented to the…
In a series of close voice votes, the House State Affairs Committee has rejected motions to amend or kill HB 368, Rep. Lynn Luker’s bill to ban lawmakers from holding any other elected local position, and just as narrowly passed the bill, sending it to…
The Idaho Press-Tribune reports today that former state Sen. Melinda Smyser will not run for state superintendent of schools; current Superintendent Tom Luna, in response to questioning from reporters after he announced that he won’t seek re-election, had said he’d talked with her about a…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Lawmakers are having second thoughts about a new form of betting on horse races, contending they feel "duped" by operators of a track in the Boise area that's installed the gambling machines. The…
North Idaho college trustees voted 4-1 last night to oppose SB 1254, newly introduced legislation from Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, to allow concealed firearms on Idaho public college campuses under certain circumstances. Like most colleges, NIC bans firearms on campus. College officials said they plan…
The Idaho Chamber Alliance, an association of local chambers of commerce from across the state that’s holding its annual meeting in Boise this week, is pushing for legislation to lower Idaho’s income tax rates in a different way – by lowering not just the top…
Idaho lawmakers and conservative Christian allies who contend faith is under siege by gays, lesbians and the government are launching a "pre-emptive" strike to bolster rights of licensed professionals to refuse service or employment to those they conclude violate their religious beliefs, reports AP reporter…
Wayne Hoffman’s Idaho Freedom Foundation released its own alternative state budget this week, though the group has not yet filled in many of the details. It calls for $180 million in tax cuts, no funding for the governor’s task force recommendations for improving schools, a…
The House Environment, Energy & Technology Committee today voted unanimously in favor of HB 406, legislation to launch a seven-year process to have the state of Idaho take over primacy for wastewater permitting under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, though many questions…
Until recently, reports Kevin Richert of Idaho Education News, GOP state schools superintendent candidate John Eynon was secretary of Idaho’s Constitution Party; he left the third party shortly before filing paperwork to run on the GOP ticket. Richert reports that Eynon’s campaign manager downplayed the…
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden launched his re-election campaign today, pledging to continue to stand up for the “rule of law.” Among the accomplishments he listed from his 11 years in office: Pursuing more than 130 public corruption cases, resulting in 49 convictions or guilty…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — House Speaker Scott Bedke says he's met with Idaho's former chief economist over a proposal to shift $80 million from a grocery tax credit to individual and corporate income tax cuts. Bedke, a…
Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, sees a war on religious freedom creeping toward Idaho, so today he introduced two bills designed to stem the tide. “There’s unfortunately greater antagonism toward religion,” Luker said. “We’ve seen government compel photographers, bakers and florists to be penalized for their…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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