Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Larry Kenck has sent out a statement about the upcoming special session of the Idaho Legislature, writing, “The ‘You Just Can’t Make This Up’ Caucus is scrambling to justify the blunder that threatened $205 million in child support for Idaho kids.”…
A huge array of organizations from around the state – from the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office to the YMCA of Lewiston, from Catholic Charities of Idaho to the Idaho Head Start Association to St. Vincent de Paul of North Idaho – has signed a letter…
The House and Senate Judiciary committees have announced a joint meeting, set for 9:30 a.m. on Monday during the special session of the Legislature, at which they’ll take public testimony on the child support enforcement bill. People who want to testify can begin signing up…
In advances of Monday’s special session of the Idaho Legislature, Idaho Voices for Children has released a two-page “policy perspective” report on child support in Idaho, reporting that nearly one in four Idaho children receives child support payments. “In Idaho, both parents, whether legally married...
Idaho GOP Sen. Mike Crapo announced today that he’ll run for re-election in 2016, seeking a fourth six-year term in the Senate. Crapo named Gov. Butch Otter, Sen. Jim Risch and Reps. Mike Simpson and Raul Labrador as his campaign co-chairs. In a statement from...
Washington's Legislature passed its version of the same child-support bill that's prompted a special session in Idaho with little fanfare; the bill passed both houses unanimously and was signed into law on Friday. Spokane Valley legislators proposed amendments to ensure foreign law wasn’t imposed in…
Dick Armstrong, director of the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare, has sent out an op-ed piece to Idaho newspapers urging support for child support enforcement legislation to be taken up in a special session of the Idaho Legislature on Monday. “It is critical that...
Idaho’s pre-K enrollment numbers rank among the nation’s lowest, reports Idaho Education News, lagging even in comparison to the handful of other states that have no state-funded preschool. EdNews reporter Kevin Richert writes that a new report from the National Institute for Early Education Research…
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden has announced settlements with Sprint and Verizon Wireless over allegations of imposing unauthorized charges on Idaho customers’ mobile phone bills, a practice known as “cramming.” It’s part of a larger $158 million settlement between the two companies, 49 states, the…
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research has released its “Status of Women in the States: 2015” report, and Idaho came out 50th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. for women's employment and earnings, ranking better than only West Virginia. The study, which compares data on poverty and opportunity, violence...
Two North Idaho lawmakers topped spending on travel during this year’s legislative session, the AP reports today. Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, had the highest in-state travel reimbursements, at nearly $8,800. Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, had the highest combined in-state and out-of-state tab of…
I’m back after a restful week visiting with family, and catching up on some of the news I missed. Here are some links, from April state tax revenues, which put the state nearly $92M ahead of forecasts for the fiscal year to date, to water, a tax incentive's impact, transportation, and more...
I'm off for the next week; will be back in the office on Tuesday, May 12th. Please email me about developments that come up while I'm gone; I'll catch up then. Happy spring, everyone!
Gov. Butch Otter posted his draft child support enforcement bill today on his website that will be the focus of deliberations when the Idaho Legislature convenes May 18 for its first special session since 2006; you can read it here. “I want every parent and...
The Coeur d’Alene Tribe is prepping for a court fight after Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney said today he won’t comply with the tribe’s legal demand letter asking him to certify SB 1011, the instant racing repeal bill, as law. “It’s disappointing to hear…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter will lead a group of business leaders on a trade mission to Peru and Mexico next week, traveling from May 9-16; the trip includes businesses ranging from producers of milk and potatoes to makers of boat docks and skin care products.…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Federal election regulators have sent former U.S. Sen. Larry Craig a warning letter that he failed to submit financial disclosure documents. The Federal Election Commission says Craig failed to report his April quarterly…
The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee has written to Idaho legislators and Gov. Butch Otter urging them to back the 9-8 vote that killed child support enforcement legislation on the final day of this year’s legislative session – the same vote that’s prompted Otter to...
A new poll conducted for the Idaho Politics Weekly newsletter published by Zion Bank asked Idahoans how they’d grade this year’s legislative session. The results: Just 3 percent gave lawmakers an A, and 16 percent handed them a B. Thirty percent – the largest single…
A group of 10 eastern Idaho potato growers and a shipper have filed a lawsuit seeking to end a quarantine and field testing imposed by state and federal authorities after the discovery of a microscopic pest that led some countries to ban Idaho spuds, the…
After years of problems ranging from littering to serious crime and at least two deaths, the BLM has decided to remove Skinny Dipper Hot Springs east of Banks and return the site to nature. The series of warm-water soaking pools there was constructed illegally in…
Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney says he won’t comply with a legal demand letter from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe asking him to certify SB 1011, the instant racing repeal bill, as law. “I don’t think personally that we have any authority to do that,”…
When Idaho lawmakers passed the state’s “ag gag” law in 2014, criminalizing surreptitious videotaping of agricultural operations, they said they were targeting “agri-terrorism” and “extremists” who target “our farm families,” particularly by publishing damaging videos online. Now those statements are at issue in federal court,…
With all the questions being raised about the secret selection process Idaho Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo are using to vet candidates for the state’s next U.S. District judge, it’s worth looking at how Idaho did it the last time around; I do so…
Some of the senators who unanimously supported SB 1067, the child support enforcement bill, before it died in a House committee on the final day of the legislative session, are not enthused about amendments proposed by House members designed to gain their support, reports Melissa…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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