Gov. Butch Otter signed 20 bills into law today, including HB 399, which lowers the minimum age to hunt big game from 12 to 10, provided that the youngster is accompanied in the field by a licensed adult. Also signed today: HB 504, establishing “leadership…
After much debate, the Senate has voted 32-2 in favor of HB 462, which updates a ski area liability statute to include clauses about snowboarding, terrain parks, and in-bounds avalanches. Though some senators raised concerns that the measure went too far to absolve resort operators…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on an Idaho House committee’s vote today to approve legislation attempting to nullify the EPA, though a state Attorney General’s opinion says the measure’s unconstitutional. Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins, said, “I don’t happen to agree.” Shepherd…
In this afternoon’s House Resources Committee meeting, all the testimony was in favor of HB 473, Rep. Paul Shepherd’s bill to nullify the EPA because of concerns from suction dredge miner about regulations. “EPA just wants control, they want power,” Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, told…
Two bipartisan bills were introduced in the House Ways & Means Committee this afternoon, one from Reps. Holli Woodings, D-Boise, and Luke Malek, R-Coeur d’Alene, opposing NSA data collection on citizens; and one from Reps. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, and Donna Pence, D-Gooding, seeking to…
About 35 “Add the Words” protesters were back in the Statehouse today; after the House and Senate adjourned their morning session, the protesters circled the third-floor rotunda and stood solemnly, hands covering their mouths, to signify not having been heard. They want a hearing on…
Seventy-six people have signed in for a House Resources Committee hearing this afternoon, including many suction dredge miners who are supporting HB 473, Rep. Paul Shepherd’s bill attempting to nullify the EPA’s regulatory authority in Idaho because of miners’ concerns about EPA regulations. In early…
Democratic candidate for governor A.J. Balukoff spoke out today against the guns-on-campus bill that Gov. Butch Otter signed into law yesterday, saying, “That’s a solution looking for a problem. It was totally unnecessary, and I think the process to pass that was just as flawed…
Budget bills have been flying through both houses today, most of them passing with only a couple of dissenting votes and little or no debate. The House today has passed appropriations for the legislative branch, the Division of Financial Management, health education programs including the…
With no opposing debate, the Senate has passed SB 1395, the bill granting raises to top statewide elected officials over the next four years, on a 30-5 vote. The bill now moves to the House. It gives the governor, secretary of state, treasurer, controller and…
Legislative budget writers have approved only a third of the requested $4.56 million in ongoing state funding, plus another $600,000 in start-up funds, for community crisis centers across the state next year. That puts the total state funding for the new centers next year at…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted 19-1 this morning to pay Education Networks of America to offset a portion of the missing federal e-rate funds for the Idaho Education Network in the coming fiscal year, but only eight months’ worth, not a full year. That knocks…