Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: KETCHUM, Idaho (AP) — Officials say a skier was badly injured when he was caught in an avalanche in central Idaho on Monday afternoon. Sawtooth Avalanche Center Director Scott Savage says the man was skiing on U.S.…
The Legislature’s Tax Working Group has wrapped up its work with no definitive outcome. “At least the members of the committee got an education on some of the history and why tax policy is the way it is,” said Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens. “I...
The Legislature’s Tax Working Group is back in session, to discuss four proposed tax-cut bills. “These are just drafts. We’re not here to finalize a piece of legislation,” said Co-Chair Rep. Gary Collins, R-Nampa. “We’re not here to take any votes, per se, on anything....
The Legislature's Tax Working Group has concluded public testimony this morning on four tax-cut proposals, and is taking a 15-minute break; when it returns at 10 a.m. MT, it'll begin discussion of how it wants to proceed on legislation.
John Watts of the Idaho Chamber Alliance told the Legislature’s Tax Working Group his organization has supported an array of tax-cut proposals over the years. But rather than a short-term, incremental step of lowering top income tax rates, he said the group would favor a…
Donna Yule, executive director of the Idaho Public Employees Association, raised concerns about the proposed bill to cut the top personal and corporate income tax rates. “Even Gov. Otter recently warned against using tax cuts to starve government,” she said. “Some people will argue if…
Lauren Necochea, director of the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy, told lawmakers on the Tax Working Group this morning that the proposed cut to the top personal income tax rate from 7.4 percent to 7.3 percent would benefit wealthier Idahoans. “Not surprisingly, the benefits are...
First to testify this morning at the hearing on tax-cut bills was Darcy James of the Idaho Interfaith Roundtable Against Hunger. She addressed the proposed bill to remove the sales tax from groceries while eliminating the grocery tax credit, and she pointed to its effective…
There’s a very light turnout for today’s Tax Working Group hearing on four tax-cut bills; there are only about a dozen people in the audience at the Lincoln Auditorium. “We thought we might have a little bit bigger crowd today, but I’m sure there are...
The Idaho Legislature’s Tax Working Group meets today at 8:30 in the Lincoln Auditorium, where it will take public testimony starting at 8:45 on four proposed tax-cut bills, lowering the corporate and top personal income tax rate by a tenth of a percent; increasing the...
Changes have been made at Boise State Public Radio, after two reporters complained to managers in February, citing concerns “that undue influence from Boise State University threatens to compromise our journalistic ethics,” the Idaho Statesman reports. The university’s vice president for campus operations and general…
The legislative interim committee on urban renewal has wrapped up its meeting today, and won’t meet again until January, when it will review a new draft of possible legislation on Idaho urban renewal laws. Gone will be two sections the panel rejected today on penalties…
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy in a general court-martial, according to an attorney for the captured soldier who was released by the Taliban in exchange for five detainees in Guantanamo Bay. The AP reports that attorney...
Idaho has reported its first flu death of the season, a North Idaho woman over the age of 60. Last year, 32 people died from the flu in Idaho. “Our condolences go out to the family of the woman who died,” said Dr. Christine Hahn,…
Proposed legislative provisions allowing people to sue urban renewal agencies over physical, emotional or economic damage and get cash payments plus attorney fees and costs, and also authorizing class-action lawsuits, has been roundly rejected by lawmakers on the Legislature’s interim committee on urban renewal. They...
Proposed reporting requirements to the state Tax Commission for urban renewal districts along with an array of penalties for non-compliance have prompted much debate among lawmakers on the urban renewal interim committee. Sen. Jeff Siddoway, R-Terreton, said he wondered how much it would take for…
There’s a clear split on the Legislature’s urban renewal interim committee over a proposal to ban the use of urban renewal funds for most public buildings, but the majority of the panel appears to favor some version of the move. “We’re talking public buildings that…
The draft legislation under review by the Legislature’s urban renewal interim committee today includes a proposal to ban the use of urban renewal funds for projects that cost more than $1 million where the urban renewal funds would make up 51 percent or more of...
The Legislature’s interim committee on urban renewal has convened this morning, and Co-Chairman Sen. Dan Johnson, R-Lewiston, announced that the lawmakers will go through their proposed legislation, “section by section or line by line.” He said, “It might get a little dry, but I do...
Down to just one U.S. District Court judge, the federal court in Idaho is bringing in up to 10 visiting judges from Colorado, Washington, California and elsewhere to hear Idaho cases while the court awaits an appointee to replace longtime Judge Edward Lodge. It’s a…
Tonight’s “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television examines the progress Idaho’s made on addressing the risk of concussions during youth sports; it’s an issue state lawmakers tackled both in 2012 and 2010, and on which attention increasingly has focused at the college and professional level.…
The state of Idaho has filed an appeal to the 9th Circuit of the U.S. District Court decision overturning the state’s “ag-gag law,” the law passed by the state Legislature making it a crime to surreptitiously videotape agricultural operations. Idaho lawmakers approved the law in...
The Idaho Legislature’s Tax Working Group is inviting public testimony at its meeting Tuesday on four proposed tax law changes: First, lowering Idaho’s top personal and corporate income tax rate from 7.4 percent to 7.3 percent, without making any change in other categories for lower...
About 30 percent of students at the College of Southern Idaho are still in high school, the college's president told the state Board of Education on Thursday. CSI President Jeff Fox said more than 4,000 high school students from 32 Idaho counties are expected to…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Officials with Idaho State University and South Dakota State University say a new agreement between the two institutions will help students earn an advanced nuclear engineering degree in just five years. The memorandum…
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