U.S. Forest Service officials say they plan to restore a log cabin in west-central Idaho they hoped to get listed on the National Register of Historic Places before a vandal caused extensive damage....
The Idaho Legislature’s working group on the state’s health coverage gap is inviting public testimony at its next meeting, Sept. 28, from 1:15 to 3:15 p.m. in Boise. Those who wish to testify but aren’t able to travel to Boise will be able to testify…
The Idaho Legislature’s Foster Care Study Committee is meeting today in the state Capitol; you can listen live here. It follows some controversy about how foster care placements, moves and adoptions work in Idaho. Today’s agenda includes an update from the Department of Health &...
Before finishing up its meeting today, the legislative panel charged with exploring updates to Idaho’s public school funding formula heard a report on five areas identified by a subcommittee for investigation as part of the process. The five: Virtual schools, which didn’t exist when Idaho’s…
There’s a red flag warning on the giant Pioneer Fire north of Idaho City today, with strong winds and high temperatures, after the fire blew up yesterday, exhibiting “extreme fire behavior” and growing by nearly 30,000 acres. The fire is producing a huge column of…
The legislative interim committee charged with looking to update Idaho’s school funding formula took public comments this afternoon, and announced that it’ll also be traveling the state to hold public hearings in September and October. “We can’t do this work unless we know what the…
As the Legislature’s Public School Funding Formula Committee opened its meeting today, Tim Hill of the Idaho State Department of Education shared stats on supplemental levies approved by voters in school districts around the state – essentially voluntary local property tax increases that voters pass…
Two legislative interim committees are meeting today: The Invasive Species Working Group opened its first meeting at 9 a.m. today in room EW 42 of the state Capitol, and the Public School Funding Formula Committee meets at 10:15 a.m. in the Lincoln Auditorium. You can...
Even after months of hearings, overwhelmingly positive public comments and stacks of statistics showing Idaho would save millions, some state lawmakers remain reluctant to accept federal Medicaid expansion funds to close the state’s health coverage gap. “I am not for Medicaid expansion,” said Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, as an interim legislative...
Sen. Maryanne Jordan, D-Boise, said her recommendation to the Legislature’s interim committee on Idaho’s health coverage gap is to endorse a straight Medicaid expansion. That, she said, would cover everyone in Idaho’s gap, and “take advantage of full federal matching rates.” She said, “I think…
Sen. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, told the Legislature’s interim committee on the health coverage gap that he favors steps to “reduce medical costs for everyone, not just those in the gap.” He called for a limited, state-funded primary care access program for people with chronic illnesses,…
There was a really telling exchange this morning about Medicaid expansion between Sen. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, who opposes expansion; Deborah Bachrach, a consultant to states and New York’s former Medicaid director; and Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, the co-chair of the Idaho Legislature’s interim committee on...
A Seattle non-profit that connects patients with medical specialists willing to provide care for free was the final presenter to the Idaho Legislature’s interim committee on the state’s health coverage gap this morning telling the panel that Project Access Northwest has served 34,000 patients in…
A family-practice doctor from Idaho Falls, Dr. Jim Brook, told the Legislature’s interim committee on the state’s health coverage gap that he’s closed the gap in his own practice – by following a unique business model, in which he doesn’t take any insurance, collects directly...
Consultant Deborah Bachrach said early results from states that have expanded their Medicaid program are showing significant results. “In the last 18 months, a lot of studies are coming out including one just last week out of the federal government on the economics,” she said.…
Deborah Bachrach, former Medicaid director for the state of New York and now a consultant to states on Medicaid expansion issues, is briefing lawmakers this morning on what other states are doing. Thirty-one have expanded Medicaid, with six of those seeking waivers for alternative approaches...
The Legislature’s interim committee on Idaho’s health care coverage gap has convened its meeting at the state Capitol this morning; you can listen live here. First up, staffer Elizabeth Bowen shared the 82 public comments received since the group’s last meeting. None opposed covering the…
Here's my full profile, from Sunday's S-R, of Idaho's rising Rep. Raul Labrador and his record representing Idaho in Congress: Never in American history has a congressman in just his second term in office been elected to a position of high leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives. Yet Idaho GOP Rep. Raul Labrador tried it in 2014...
The Consulate of Mexico in Boise will hold a “Latino Fest” next Saturday, Sept. 3, from 3-10 p.m. on the Basque Block in Boise, featuring music, dance, food, workshops, kids’ activities and more. Consul Celso Delgado and Boise Mayor David Bieter will speak at 4:30;…
Boise’s Municipal Park was renamed in honor of three-time Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong today; it’ll now be Kristin Armstrong Municipal Park. Hundreds gathered at the park today to honor Armstrong, in an event dubbed “Kristin’s Gold Games,” a celebration in which kids could compete…
Idaho Fish & Game is warning people who purchased hunting or fishing licenses or tags before 2008 that their personal information may have been compromised in a data breach. The warning came after Fish & Game officials held a conference call with their vendor, Texas-based…
Russ Fulcher resigned from the board of the Idaho Freedom Foundation on Wednesday, before he announced that he will run for governor in 2018, the Freedom Foundation said in a news release today. Fulcher had served on the group’s board since December of 2014. Brent...
Two-thirds of the wildfires that Idaho Department of Lands personnel have fought this summer were caused by people, not lightning, the department noted this week, urging caution as people work, recreate or travel in or through the outdoors during the height of wildfire season. Escaped…
Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill says he found no cause for concern in the results of an audit he and House Speaker Scott Bedke requested of the travel reimbursements of two state lawmakers who were accused of having an affair. “I don’t believe there’s any…
The Idaho Legislative Services Office has completed its investigation into travel reimbursements claimed by two lawmakers, Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, and Rep. Christy Perry, R-Nampa, over the past three years, after allegations by a blogger that the two might have misused state funds in the...
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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