The hearing on HB 2, the "Add the Words" bill, has wrapped up for the morning, as House members are headed to their chamber for their floor session. House State Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, said it'll reconvene at 5 p.m. This morning, 23…
Mormon church leaders are making a national appeal for a "balanced approach" in the clash between gay rights and religious freedom, the AP reports; the church is promising to support some housing and job protections for gays and lesbians in exchange for legal protections for...
So far today, 17 people have testified on HB 2, the civil rights bill regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. The first six were against; the next nine were in favor, including two Presbyterian ministers, followed by two opponents. The Rev. Marci Glass of Southminster…
Testimony has resumed on HB 2. Among those speaking so far was Janet Bryant, a retired teacher, who said, “This bill has been presented as a beautiful bouquet of flowers but inside is a hand grenade with the pin already pulled.” She said, “Boys and…
The House State Affairs Committee took a break, after Rep. Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer, asked to pose a question to the administrator of the Idaho Human Rights Commission. After much talking back and forth between committee members about procedure, the panel reconvened, and Plummer asked Linda…
Julie Lynde, head of the Cornerstone Institute of Idaho, spoke out against HB 2 at today's hearing. “This isn’t about whether a guy can wear a dress, it’s about whether he can take it off in front of your daughter, your mother, your niece,” she…
The first four people to testify this morning at the HB 2 hearing all spoke against the bill, including Pastor Jeff Estes of Fellowship Baptist Church in Meridian, who said, “My argument against HB 2 is that instead of having cutout slices of people who...
As the hearing on HB 2 begins this morning, House State Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, offered an explanation for why the committee is seated in the back row of the dais, with a row of empty chairs in front of it. Loertscher said…
The hearing on HB 2, the “Add the Words” bill to add civil rights protections in Idaho for gays and transgender people, is about to take back up this morning. House State Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, said the plan is to take testimony...
As the Legislature’s joint budget committee continues a week of hearings on education budgets, North Idaho College President Joe Dunlap told lawmakers this morning that state funding for NIC is now about the same as it was 12 years ago. “When factoring in an inflation…
After three and a half hours of testimony this morning and another four hours tonight, the hearing on HB 2 has ended for now, just after 9 p.m. Mountain time. In all, 70 people testified over the course of the day, exactly evenly split –…
The “Add the Words” hearing has gone well past the planned 8 p.m. close tonight. Three juniors at Mountain View High School were among the final people called to testify at this evening’s hearing on HB 2, the civil rights bill regarding sexual orientation and…
More testimony from tonight’s hearing on HB 2, the anti-discrimination bill regarding sexual orientation and gender identity: Chelsea Lincoln said, “I stand before you as a proud member of the community that is being personally affected by the passage of this legislation. I grew up…
More testimony at this evening’s hearing on the “Add the Words” bill: Derek Cassel of Caldwell, who testified against HB 2, said, “I’ve been thinking a lot about rights recently. … No government and no majority can take away specific rights that we have. If…
More testimony from tonight’s hearing on HB 2, the non-discrimination bill regarding sexual orientation and gender identity: Sisto Zavala, a pastor, told the committee, “It’s going to affect our churches, it’s going to affect our businesses, our bathrooms. It’s going to affect that.” He said,...
More testimony from this evening’s hearing: Janelle Wintersteen drew plenty of laughs, lightening the mood in the Lincoln Auditorium. She said as a lesbian, “I have lived an open life in Idaho.” She said she didn’t announce her sexual orientation outright, but after getting to…
More testimony from this evening’s “Add the Words” hearing: Patrick Smith of Meridian told the committee, “I believe that everyone deserves respect and the freedom to work hard and support themselves without fear.” He said, “We’re not here to stomp on anyone’s religious beliefs, I…
In continuing testimony on the “Add the Words” bill, HB 2, which bans discrimination in employment, housing or public accommodations based on sexual orientation or gender identity: Ben Baker of Pocatello told the committee, “We do not want to participate in such sorts of activities...
The hearing on HB 2, the civil rights bill to ban discrimination against gays, has resumed. The Lincoln Auditorium is full again. Here’s some of this evening’s testimony: Bob Compton of Midvale said, “It has been argued that sexual orientation and gender identity are genetic…
A North Idaho state senator is questioning why the Post Falls Police Department is investigating the “instant racing” machines in use at the Greyhound Park and Event Center in Post Falls. Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, said today he thinks it’s fitting for the Idaho...
You can read my full story here at spokesman.com on today’s “Add the Words” bill hearing, in which nearly 500 people flocked to Idaho’s state Capitol to give heartfelt testimony both for and against a proposed law to ban discrimination against gays and transgender people…
University of Idaho President Chuck Staben wants to freeze resident undergraduate tuition rates next year – if the Legislature commits to fully funding a 3 percent salary increase for faculty and staff. “We only get about 50 percent of the general funds needed to pay...
Kicking off a week of education budget hearings this morning, Emma Atchley, president of the State Board of Education, offered a sobering statistic to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee: 20 years ago, Idaho’s colleges and universities received about 13 percent of the state’s general-fund budget. This…
Idaho Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, and House Education Chairman Reed DeMordaunt, R-Eagle, are forming a new “STEM Caucus” of state lawmakers who want to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in the state. “It’s a nonpartisan thing,” Nonini said. “Both Reed and I…
Testimony has wrapped up for the morning at today’s public hearing on HB 2, the bill to add discrimination protections for gays and transgender people in housing, employment and public accommodations to Idaho law. So far, 30 people have testified, 13 in favor of the...
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