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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Bedke: ‘We’re in the playoffs now’

Idaho House chamber (Betsy Russell)
Idaho House chamber (Betsy Russell)

The House has now adjourned until 10 a.m. tomorrow. Speaker Scott Bedke asked House Transportation Chairman Joe Palmer to give an update on the conference committee. “We moved a little bit today,” Palmer told the House. “Tomorrow we’re going to meet up again at 8 o’clock in the morning and start over, and see if we can come to some agreement on the issues at this point.”

Bedke said, “I’d like to thank the conference committee that we named, both from the majority and the minority. I’ve been on these before, I know they’re not easy. … I would exhort you to get a good night’s sleep and hit it hard in the morning. I believe that the Senate … is still very committed to doing something on the subject of transportation. If we’re not successful in the conference committee, then the bill is dead. … It’s still my belief that they would like to get something and I know that many of you would like to move the ball on that subject.”

Bedke said, “This is just how it is. You go through the whole season to get into the playoffs – we’re in the playoffs now.”

Rep. Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, the minority member of the House’s delegation to the conference committee, thanked House members for their patience, and said transportation is important. “It is not a partisan issue and it should not be a partisan issue,” he said.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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