Sen. Mike Crapo’s office has issued this statement, after he recently told “Tea Party Bob” Neugebauer in a radio interview that he had praise for the nine Idaho lawmakers who opposed the child support enforcement bill on the final day of this year’s regular session…
Among the first to testify today on the child support bill: Lauren Necochea, director of Idaho Voices for Children, told the lawmakers, “In Idaho, we all agree that parents should be responsible for caring for their children, regardless of whether the parents are married or…
More than an hour into today’s joint public hearing on HB 1, the child support bill, public testimony is now beginning. Senate Judiciary Chair Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, said she will alternate between proponents and opponents of the bill.
Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, said, “I’ve taken an oath to protect the Constitution and a lot of my constituents are concerned that this may be a violation of parts of the Constitution, in particular, I’m going to say two, Article 1 Section 10 that says…
Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, asked state Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong, “We were originally told that we could not add any amendments to the original bill. So my question is why now are we allowed to add these amendments?” Armstrong responded, “It depends on...
Of the 30-plus people who have signed up to testify at today’s public hearing on HB 1, the child support enforcement bill, 16 have indicated they’re testifying in favor of the bill, and 13 that they’ll speak against it. Backers of the bill represent groups...
State Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong told the House and Senate judiciary committees that in 2014, 416,000 parents, children and other guardians were impacted by Idaho’s child support enforcement system. That included 183,000 children, 155,000 of them living in Idaho. One in four Idaho...
The joint hearing of the House and Senate Judiciary committees is getting under way in the Lincoln Auditorium, where more than 30 people have signed up to testify. Senate Judiciary Chair Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, who is presiding, said this piece of legislation – HB…
House Majority Leader Mike Moyle said his main objection to the amended child support bill is changes sought by Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, but declined to say which ones, referring questions to Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise. Luker said he’s on board with…
The House Ways & Means Committee has voted 6-1 to introduce the new child support enforcement bill, with just House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, objecting. Moyle spoke out angrily, saying he thought the Department of Health & Welfare had misled lawmakers that they couldn’t...
Rep. Rich Wills, R-Glenns Ferry, is now presenting the child support enforcement bill to the House Ways & Means Committee. “We only have one item on our agenda this morning,” said committee Chair Christy Perry, R-Nampa, who said Wills will have an easy time presenting…
The Senate has now gone at ease, with Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, advising senators to stick around for further instructions around 11 a.m. In the House, Speaker Scott Bedke advised the House of the schedule for the day, including the House Ways…
Both the House and Senate have now convened for their special legislative session today. Though the House Ways & Means Committee isn’t scheduled to meet to consider introducing the new version of the child-support bill until 9 a.m., it may start earlier than that, as...
Today’s special session of the Idaho Legislature begins at 8 a.m. Boise time, and it’ll all be streamed live online, thanks to Idaho Public TV. At this webpage here, Idaho PTV has assembled links to all of today’s proceedings: The House and Senate, which convene...