Catching up on the week’s news…
There’s plenty of news to catch up on from the past week that I’ve been gone, starting with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states the Friday before last. Gay marriage already became legal in Idaho last October, but Gov. Butch Otter had been continuing to attempt to appeal the decision, both filing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and filing a brief supporting the states involved in the 6th Circuit case the Supreme Court agreed to rule on; he lost on both counts, with the Supreme Court’s ruling settling the question nationwide. A June 30 letter from the U.S. Supreme Court's clerk formally announced Idaho's appeal had been denied.
Otter called the decision “truly disappointing for states, including Idaho, where the people chose to define marriage for themselves as between one man and one woman.” Meanwhile, hundreds of gay rights supporters celebrated on the Idaho Capitol steps, and Rep. John McCrostie, D-Boise, currently Idaho’s only openly gay state lawmaker, said, “This is a great and historic time for the LGBT community both in Idaho and in America, but our joy is tempered knowing that, while we can be married on Saturday we can still be fired and evicted on Monday, until Idaho adds the words to our Human Rights Act. We celebrate this victory, and we continue to fight for equality with housing, employment and public accommodations.” Today, AP reporter Kimberlee Kruesi reports that Idaho’s unenforceable ban on same-sex marriage remains in the Idaho Constitution, and prospects are uncertain on whether lawmakers will remove the now-moot wording, which would require both two-thirds support of the Legislature and a majority vote in a general election; you can read her full report here.
Several notable appointments happened in the past week, including Otter naming a new Idaho Court of Appeals judge and naming a replacement for longtime Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, now head of the state Department of Insurance. Third District Judge Molly Huskey was Otter’s pick for the Court of Appeals seat, where she’ll replace Judge Karen Lansing, who is retiring after 22 years. Huskey is the former state appellate public defender and holds a law degree from the University of Idaho. The appointment keeps a single female among the judges of Idaho’s Court of Appeals and Supreme Court; Lansing had been the only one. For Cameron’s Senate seat, Otter gave the nod to Rupert city administrator Kelly Anthon, a 7th generation Idahoan who lives on a family farm near Declo.
On July 3, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge, Idaho’s longest serving judge, took senior status; there’s been no word as yet on a possible replacement, as Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have been conducting an extended, secret screening process to suggest possible replacements to President Barack Obama.
Idaho’s gas tax went up 7 cents per gallon on July 1 with the start of the new fiscal year, as part of the transportation funding deal state lawmakers approved this year. Interestingly, when we drove back into Idaho from Oregon at the end of our vacation on the Fourth of July, gas at the first stop was still priced identically to its level over a week earlier.
Idaho Public Utilities Commissioner Mack Redford died last week; he’d served on the PUC since 2007. An attorney, Redford was the former general counsel for Morrison Knudsen International, served as legal counsel for the Channel Tunnel project connecting England and France, and was general counsel for Micron Construction.
Statewide student test scores aligned to the new Idaho Core Standards were released last week, and Idaho students did better than expected, Idaho Education News reported. EdNews reporter Kevin Richert has a full report here.
The annual Crime in Idaho statistical report came out and showed that Idaho’s crime rate dropped 2 percent from 2013 to 2014, while violent crimes dropped 1.6 percent. Idaho is ranked 43rd in the nation for its violent crime rate. Crimes against property were down 4.6 percent.
Idaho’s Hispanic population grew at its fastest rate in four years, according to a report from the Idaho Department of Labor, and made up 12 percent of the state’s population in mid-2014, up from 11.2 percent in 2010. The state’s Hispanic population grew 2.9 percent from mid-2013 to mid-2014, while the non-Hispanic white population grew 1.2 percent.
Boise brand marketing firm Oliver Russell amended its articles of incorporation to become the state’s first “benefit corporation,” a new class of corporation lawmakers created during this year’s legislative session. Benefit corporations, while still for-profit corporations, are required to consider not only their shareholders, but also benefits to the public, including workers, community and the environment.
Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney sent out a press release warning of a scam targeting Idaho businesses, who are being told they need to purchase a “certificate of goodstanding” to be in compliance with state law. State law has no such requirement, Denney said; an organization calling itself “Division of Corporate Services, Business Compliance Division” has been perpetrating the scam.
And Idaho Sen. Jim Risch has quietly introduced legislation to define work slowdowns as an unfair labor practice, in response to the backlog of ships and containers along the West Coast during months-long contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and port operators. The Oregonian reports that Risch’s bill has no co-sponsors and no Oregon lawmakers are publicly supporting it; you can read their full report here.
