Idaho House Democrats sent out a statement today sharply criticizing House Majority Caucus Chairman John Vander Woude for saying on Idaho Reports on Friday that Dems had “failed to engage” on transportation funding issues. “It appears to me that Rep. Vander Woude wants to blame…
Two House Republicans say they have a last-minute proposal to raise $70 million to $100 million per year in new transportation funding, the AP reports. The House Transportation Committee is slated to consider the eleventh-hour proposal Tuesday; it would draw from overall tax revenue growth…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the latest on the Idaho Education Network brouhaha: The data is in now from most of Idaho’s school districts, and it wasn’t just North Idaho – school districts across the state are saving big bucks…
House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, introduced legislation this morning to tap into state lottery proceeds for $500,000 a year to boost live horse racing in the state. The move comes as his committee is scheduled to hear SB 1011 on Wednesday morning, the…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho lawmakers are once again seeking to remove a special exemption that allows elected officials to carry concealed guns without a permit. The House State Affairs Committee voted Monday to introduce the bill,…
Though lots of senators had questions about it, the Senate has voted 29-6 in favor of SB 1071a, Sen. Jim Patrick’s bill to require students to pass a civics test to graduate from high school. The bill has 21 co-sponsors from both parties; the idea...
The House has voted 68-1 in favor of HB 220, the “new and improved bill” to renew an expansion of the state tax credit for donations to schools that otherwise would have expired at the end of the year. That was the description given by...
Both a controversial House-passed parental rights bill, HB 113, and the measure to legalize a non-psychotropic oil extracted from cannabis for treatment of children with a severe form of epilepsy, SB 1106, were discussed in the Senate State Affairs Committee this morning, but the panel…
The Idaho House has voted 58-11 in favor of HB 155, the bill to increase fines for violations of the Idaho Open Meeting Law. Fines for violations would rise from the current $50 to $250; fines for knowing violations would rise from the current $500...
Legislative budget writers have declined to fund a $60,000 third-party audit for the Idaho State Treasurer’s office to replace the usual legislative audit in looking in detail at two investment pools, saying a newly appointed investment advisory board for the treasurer’s office should have a…
A survey of school districts that found big savings after the districts secured their own vendors for broadband service to replace the defunct Idaho Education Network showed a cost per megabit of $43.96, compared to the $80.67 the state was paying vendors under the IEN...
The data is in from most of Idaho’s school districts, and it appears that the state is seeing big savings now that the districts have found their own vendors for broadband services to replace the defunct Idaho Education Network, for which the state’s $60 million…
Idaho’s community colleges also would see a 3 percent increase in state funding next year – the same percentage as the state’s public four-year colleges and universities – under a budget unanimously adopted by the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning. Gov. Butch Otter had recommended…
On a unanimous vote, legislative budget writers have set a budget for Idaho’s four-year colleges and universities next year that matches Gov. Butch Otter’s recommendation for a 3 percent increase in state funds, and 4.4 percent overall. The budget includes $2.03 million for an array...
Funding for higher education in Idaho is up in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning, with Idaho colleges and universities and communities colleges all on the agenda. Also up for consideration today: Funding for next year for broadband services for school districts across the state,…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
