The House Transportation Committee has just had a fairly heated debate about a temporary, three-year, five-cent increase in Idaho’s gas tax, before voting 9-7 against even introducing the bill proposed by Rep. Clark Kauffman, R-Filer. “In the last week or so, I think this bill…
With little debate, the Idaho House today killed legislation aimed at making physicians employed by the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare exempt from the state’s classified personnel system, to allow their pay to be increased beyond the state scale. Rep. Phylis King, D-Boise, the…
The House has voted 42-25 to approve legislation to comply with the settlement agreement to the longstanding Jeff D lawsuit by setting up a children's mental health program within Medicaid, to attract millions in federal matching funds; that will allow the services provided to children…
State general funds for Idaho’s state Department of Parks & Recreation are down to less than 10 percent of the department’s budget, Director David Langhorst told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Thursday. “We’ve built our dedicated fund revenue streams to the point where we are…
The Washington Post today has an in-depth look at Idaho’s experience with Obamacare and health care reform, as a microcosm of what’s going on nationwide. It’s headlined, “Republicans in Idaho tried to design a better plan than Obamacare – and failed.” You can read it...
Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning that he expects to have online voter registration, which lawmakers approved last year and is being phased in, “up and going” by next fall. “I doubt that we’ll get it up by...
Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, persuaded the House State Affairs Committee this morning to introduce her bill to clarify that sled dog racing is exempt from Idaho’s ban on dog racing, which was imposed in 1996 amid concerns over reported abuse of greyhounds raced at a…
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says his office “represents an excellent value for the state,” returning $1.53 to the state for every taxpayer dollar appropriated to it. “Fiscal year 2016 was a successful year for my office,” he told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning,…
Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, persuaded the House State Affairs Committee this morning to introduce his bill for strict new limits on government entities or officials running ads or sending out other communications in the weeks or months prior to an election. But Monks said this…
After an emotional hearing that stretched for close to two hours on Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee this afternoon voted to kill legislation proposed by the state Department of Juvenile Corrections and the Association of Idaho Counties to grant law enforcement officer status for retirement...
At 4 this afternoon in the Lincoln Auditorium, New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Daniels will deliver this year’s Denton Darrington Annual Lecture on Law and Government. The topic is, “Pretrial Justice Reform: Promoting public safety and constitutional rights through evidence-based release and detention.”…
The Idaho House has backed legislation requiring sign language interpreters to get a professional license from a state board. Gov. Butch Otter vetoed a similar proposal in 2015, arguing that the plan would have created a strain on already limited resources...
Freshman Rep. Scott Syme, R-Caldwell, led a move in the House Education Committee this morning to delete references to climate change and human impact on the environment from a new set of science standards for the state’s schools, Idaho EdNews reports. Syme said he thought...
Ada and Boundary Counties have been added to a state disaster declaration signed by Gov. Butch Otter in response to winter storm and snowmelt damages, bringing the total number to six. Already included were Canyon, Custer, Payette and Washington counties, according to the Idaho Office…
The House has rejected legislation from Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, to remove the requirement for a front license plate on cars that aren’t manufactured with a spot or bracket for them. The vote was 28 in favor, 42 against. The bill was opposed by major…
A proposed amendment to the Idaho Constitution to lower the supermajority required for bond issues from 66-2/3 to 60 percent was introduced yesterday in the House Local Government Committee, and read across the desk in the House this morning. HJR 3, sponsored by House Minority…
An Idaho House panel has approved new K-12 science standards, but only after striking key references to climate change caused by human behavior. This is the third year the Idaho Legislature has struggled to agree on science standards for public schools. Previous efforts that included references to global warming...
Idaho’s prison system, which currently has about 8,000 inmates behind bars and 16,000 people under supervision statewide, is up for just a very small budget increase next year, with Gov. Butch Otter recommending a 1.4 percent increase in state general funds, and a decrease of…
Idaho Fish and Game commissioners will consider doubling the amount of money available to compensate landowners for crop damage caused by deer, elk and other wildlife, the Lewiston Tribune reports. Commissioner Dan Blanco of Moscow said the commission directed the Idaho Department of Fish and…
Idaho’s state Department of Administration had its eye on three properties near the Capitol Mall that the state Land Board decided to auction off last year as part of a shift in its endowment investment strategy, as possible office space for state agencies, but despite...
What if you’re on a two-lane road, and you want to pass another motorist who’s going a couple of miles below the speed limit, but just to get past them safely, you need to exceed the speed limit? Rep. Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls, has an…
Idaho Sen. Jim Risch is staunchly defending his role in blocking a letter from Coretta Scott King from being entered into the record in the U.S. Senate during Tuesday evening’s debate over the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general, saying Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren violated Senate rules by bringing up the letter...
House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, introduced a bill in his committee this morning targeting tribal gaming, seeking to alter part of the law created when voters passed Proposition 1 in 2002 to authorize tribal casinos. Specifically, Loertscher wants to add a clause banning...
A Meridian woman’s years-long push to get state law changed regarding notification of a lapse in life insurance policies is making some headway, reports Times-News reporter Nathan Brown. He writes that Kathy Peterson got a version of her bill introduced in 2014, but it never…
January state tax revenues came in 6.7 percent ahead of projections, $22.9 million higher, largely due to strong individual and corporate income tax collections for the month. The January figures pushed fiscal year to date collections to 2 percent above forecasts, and were 12.3 percent…
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