From my Sunday column: As Idaho’s legislative session pushes into its home stretch, Gov. Butch Otter has laid out “parameters” on transportation funding, one big issue on which the House and Senate currently are at odds, and said he’d call transportation funding “the going-home bill.”…
On tonight’s “Idaho Reports,” I join Jim Weatherby, Clark Corbin, and co-hosts Aaron Kunz and Melissa Davlin to discuss the education developments of the 12th week of the legislative session; and in a second panel, Kimberlee Kruesi joins Weatherby, Kunz, Davlin and myself to talk...
The Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families, a school-choice group, has announced it’s pushing for an override of Gov. Butch Otter’s veto of HB 126, which would have changed the state school funding formula to benefit schools that see enrollment increases during the academic year.…
Gov. Butch Otter signed 37 bills into law today, including 14 House bills and 23 Senate bills. Among them: HB 112, Rep. Greg Chaney’s bill requiring PACs to file 48-hour notices of contributions of $1,000 or more shortly before the election just as political committees…
Gov. Butch Otter won't announce what action he's taking on SB 1011, the bill to repeal instant racing, until Monday, his press secretary, Jon Hanian, just announced. Otter must take action on the bill - either veto it, sign it into law, or allow it…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Fish and Game Department says the number of wolves in the state has reached its highest level since 2010, following a corresponding decline in wolves killed by hunters and trappers. The…
They’ll try a long weekend away In hopes of a happier day Then when they’re back Perhaps they’ll be on track For their sine die judgment day.
In the past two days, Gov. Butch Otter has signed 27 bills into law, 14 of those, all House bills, on April Fools Day. Otter said yesterday that at one of those April 1 bill signings, he pulled out his “VETO” stamp, to the dismay...
Idaho has signed on to a brief with 14 other states urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold bans on gay marriage and leave the matter to voters and lawmakers, the AP reports. The brief, filed today, argues that the court will do "incalculable damage…
Idaho lawmakers have agreed to set up a “STEM Action Center,” a new state office under Gov. Butch Otter that would coordinate efforts from schools to industry to promote science, technology, engineering and math in the state. The legislation, sponsored by Coeur d’Alene Sen....
Ilah Hickman and her friends got to take “selfies” with the governor today, after he signed into law HB 1, the 14-year-old’s long-sought bill to designate the Idaho giant salamander as the state amphibian. “There ya are, kiddo, it’s all done,” Gov. Butch Otter told…
The Senate Transportation Committee has voted 7-2 to send HB 312, the vehicle registration fee increase bill, to the Senate’s 14th order for amendments; the only two “no” votes came from Sens. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, and Lori DenHartog, R-Meridian. The votes followed a presentation...
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted this morning to pull back the budget bill for the state Department of Labor, and replace it with an identical one that has different wording in a section of legislative intent that bars the department from closing any of its...
The House today refused to concur in Senate amendments to HB 155a, Rep. Linden Bateman’s bill to increase fines for violations of the open meeting law – but that was just because of a drafting error in the amendments, and a new version of the…
The House has adjourned until 1:30 p.m. on Monday; the House Ways & Means Committee has announced a meeting immediately, in the 4th floor majority caucus room.
Gov. Butch Otter said today that he’s met so far with at least seven groups either supporting or opposing SB 1011, the bill to repeal “instant racing” in Idaho. “I’ve made a commitment to meet with every interest group,” Otter told reporters this morning. “I’ve…
The Senate has adjourned until 1:30 p.m. on Monday, after doing little business this morning; that means it'll take Friday off. The House had already announced plans to do that. The Senate also announced a committee meeting that's now scheduled for Tuesday, in the State…
Gov. Butch Otter, speaking with reporters in his office this morning after the teacher pay bill-signing, laid out his “parameters” on transportation funding for this year’s legislative session. “We’ve got a couple of issues hanging fire, and the big one of course is transportation,” Otter...
Gov. Butch Otter signed HB 296, the career ladder teacher pay bill, into law today, surrounded by supporters ranging from legislative leaders to the head of the Idaho Education Association to state Board of Education members. Otter said in the long negotiations that led to...
The House State Affairs Committee has reversed itself and voted 12-4 in favor of SB 1146a, the bill to allow Idaho parents whose children suffer from an intractable form of epilepsy that causes frequent, prolonged, life-threatening seizures, to treat their kids with cannabidiol oil, a…
Idaho GOP Congressman Raul Labrador is sharply criticizing fellow Idaho GOP Congressman Mike Simpson, after Simpson said a congressman would “have to look long and hard to find a reason to vote no” on legislation that passed the House late last week to reauthorize the…
After a hearing that was continued this afternoon from Monday, the Senate Resources Committee, after extensive discussion, has voted to kill HB 265a, the bill to enter into an interstate compact for state takeover of federal lands. After numerous concerns were raised about various provisions…
Gov. Butch Otter has issued a statement today lauding lawmakers for approving funding for a new mental health crisis center in North Idaho next year, saying he signed the budget bill, HB 264, into law today. “As I said in my State of the State…
Gov. Butch Otter has allowed two bills to become law without his signature: HB 75, which removes the sales tax from prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses; and HB 132, which would switch from a flat tax, with an annual decal, to a tax based on…
As the House State Affairs Committee prepares to reconsider SB 1146a, the cannabidiol oil bill, tomorrow morning, here’s how their vote broke down Monday evening when they deadlocked 8-8 on a motion to approve the bill and send it to the House with a recommendation…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
| April 2015 | ||||
| 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 24 |
| 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 17 |
| 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 11 |
| 10 | 09 | 08 | 07 | 06 |
| 05 | 03 | 02 | 01 |
