New Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra has changed her teacher pay proposal for next year again, telling the House and Senate Education committees today that she wants all teachers to get 3 percent raises next year. Idaho EdNews reporter Clark Corbin reports that as…
Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center and a law professor at George Washington University, told an audience of state and federal judges, lawyers, lawmakers, students and more at today’s Darrington Lecture on Law and Government that what his center in Philadelphia...
Gov. Butch Otter, who is recovering from hip replacement surgery, spoke by phone to his newly convened IEN Working Group this afternoon, urging it to come up with a solution to the legal and financial mess surrounding the Idaho Education Network before the end of…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on today’s stormy budget hearing on the Idaho Education Network, at which leery lawmakers grilled Otter Administration officials about how they plan to resolve the legal and financial mess surrounding the IEN, the statewide broadband network…
The Senate Commerce Committee agreed unanimously today to introduce legislation re-alphebetizing definitions in Idaho’s state code and rules governing purchasing. “It makes it more user-friendly for everyone to use,” Bill Burns, head of the state Purchasing Division, told the senators. The change arose from a...
This afternoon at 4, in the Idaho Supreme Court’s courtroom, will be the annual Denton Darrington Lecture on Law and Government. This year’s speaker is Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, professor of law at George Washington University Law School, and…
Idaho has skipped “hundreds of millions” in federal health care funding that the state’s taxpayers were due, because the state hasn’t expanded its Medicaid program, Idaho Statesman reporter Bill Dentzer reports; his full story is online here. Members of Gov. Butch Otter’s Medicaid redesign working…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A legislative panel introduced new legislation today aimed at restricting medication-induced abortions in Idaho, including requiring in-person counseling and an examination before the medication is prescribed. The House State Affairs Committee voted to…
Gov. Butch Otter announced today that former Sen. John Goedde, now an Otter aide, will head a 20-member working group to chart a path forward for the Idaho Education Network, and the new panel will meet today at 3 in the Senate Majority Caucus Room....
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho residents would be able to carry concealed weapons without a permit under a new bill introduced by the House State Affairs Committee on Thursday. Greg Pruett with the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance...
Idaho lawmakers took a moment to recall a piece of Idaho history today, as the Idaho Historical Society, after its budget presentation to JFAC, unveiled two historic artifacts: The original register of votes from the 1896 election that approved a state constitutional amendment granting women...
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — A mule deer that grew to trophy proportions because it lived inside Twin Falls city limits where hunting is illegal and became something of a celebrity has been poached. The Times-News reports…
Crazy day at the Statehouse this morning, with lots happening. While JFAC was grilling Otter Administration officials about the troubled Idaho Education Network this morning, the House State Affairs Committee was debating introducing bills on abortion and concealed guns. New state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra…
Lawmakers had so many questions about the troubled Idaho Education Network that this morning’s hearing on the state Department of Administration budget went 40 minutes over its planned time, prompting the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to put off its hearing on the Capitol Commission budget to...
Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, like Senate Education Chairman Dean Mortimer before him, questioned why the state would seek a “bridge contractor” to provide a service identical to the current Idaho Education Network for another year. “I think we all recognize that there’s a…
Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, asked state Admin Director Teresa Luna if Idaho might have to pay back the millions in e-rate funds it received over four years before the feds cut them off in November of 2013. Luna said it’s possible. “We have heard of…
The Otter Administration’s proposal for the Idaho Education Network is to allocate $10.5 million in state general funds for the IEN next year – the full cost, assuming that no federal e-rate funds can be obtained. “Should e-rate funding be realized, there would be an…
Among the questions from lawmakers about the Idaho Education Network at this morning’s budget hearing: Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, said his local school district gets good broadband service outside the IEN. He questioned “why we need the statewide network model, when there are other models…
Former Senate Education Chairman John Goedde told JFAC, “Let’s talk about a path forward. … We issued an invitation to bid on the 3rd that will address the intermediate challenge that we’ve got.” That’s for a “bridge contractor” to run the IEN for one year,...
State Admin Director Teresa Luna turned over the podium to former Sen. John Goedde to present the Idaho Education Network portion of her budget presentation; Goedde began by disputing a recent service audit of the IEN...
Idaho Department of Administration Director Teresa Luna is on the hot seat this morning, presenting the department’s budget to lawmakers – along with the troubled Idaho Education Network high school broadband service. Luna’s presentation to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee puts everything else first – the...
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
