Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo issued this statement in response to Donald Trump’s inaugural address today: “Today, we witnessed the peaceful transfer of power that has been the hallmark of our democracy since its founding. In this election, voters chose a candidate who put forth a...
Unemployment in Idaho dropped to 3.7 percent in December, after five straight months at 3.8 percent, the Idaho Department of Labor reports. Year-over-year, Idaho’s total nonfarm job growth for December showed a net gain of 13,300, or 1.9 percent, with all sectors except natural resources…
Idaho is facing a very big expense - $102 million - in the coming years to modernize its accounting, financial, payroll, human resources and procurement technology infrastructure, state Controller Brandon Woolf told legislative budget writers this morning. The process started in 2015 with a study,…
There’s a bit of a tiff between the PERSI board and the Otter Administration, regarding a $100,000 fund transfer request in the PERSI budget for next year. No state general tax funds would be involved; it’s a transfer between PERSI funds that come from fees…
A federal judge has ordered Idaho to destroy all information collected from collars placed on elk and wolves obtained illegally by landing a helicopter in a central Idaho wilderness area. U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill in a ruling made public Thursday says it's such an extreme case that the only way...
Well, that was weird. An unusual siren sounded, and then a metal smoke-barrier door slid out and sealed off the Capitol basement corridor where House committee meeting rooms are located, blocking lots of people on the other side who filed outside and upstairs and stood…
Idaho's effective tax rate on natural gas and oil production is less than half the average when compared with eight other producing states, according to a tax-comparison study released Thursday. The study made public at the Idaho Oil and Gas Conservation Commission meeting found Idaho's rate at 4 percent compared with the 9.5 percent average...
Idaho’s average teacher salary has increased by slightly more than 5 percent since 2015, when the state adopted a five-year plan to boost pay, reports Idaho EdNews. After two years, and a $75 million infusion of new state money, Idaho’s average teacher salary now stands…
Asked about Rep. Heather Scott’s Facebook statement today blasting him for not yet restoring her committee assignments and her objection that forced the full reading of a bill during today’s House session, House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said, “I’ll stick by my statement from the…
It seems all is not well in the House, where yesterday Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, issued a statement apologizing to every member of the House for her earlier disparaging comments about other female House members, but today she objected to a standard motion to waive…
The House has voted unanimously, 68-0, in favor of HB 1, the first bill of the session, which clarifies the meaning of “in whole or in part” in the administrative rules constitutional amendment, HJR 5, that voters approved in November. “HB 1 is a very…
Lawmakers on the Idaho House Revenue and Taxation Committee have introduced legislation to bring the state's tax code in line with federal rules. Tom Shaner, with the Idaho Tax Commission, said Thursday that the move is estimated to cost Idaho almost nothing – marking the first time in nearly a decade that bringing Idaho's tax code in line...
High school students are being invited to compete for cash prizes while learning about constitutional conflicts in a civics contest sponsored by the U.S. District Court in Idaho and the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The theme of the essay and video competition, which…
Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality is proposing to add nine new employees next year as part of the phase-in of Idaho’s effort to achieve state primacy on the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System, though which Idaho would take over permitting and enforcement of discharges of…
With the big Women’s March on Washington planned Saturday, Idaho has seven women’s marches planned as well, including the Women’s March on Idaho in Boise, organized by two Boise high school students. Colette Raptosh, a Capital High School junior, and friend Nora Harren, a senior…
An Idaho House panel has introduced legislation that would exclude gasoline hybrid vehicle owners from paying an additional $75 registration fee. Two years ago, lawmakers passed a transportation funding plan that raised vehicle registration fees and the gasoline tax by 7 cents. Electric and hybrid vehicles faced higher...
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the developments today in the saga of Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, who issued a issued a this afternoon statement apologizing to every member of the Idaho House for her earlier disparaging comments about other female…
Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Bert Marley released the following statement on Wednesday afternoon about the first two weeks of the Idaho legislative session: “Today, Idaho Democratic legislators showed yet again that they are the thought leaders in the Capitol. The citizens of this state send…
Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, visited with fellow lawmakers, including Rep. Van Burtenshaw, R-Terreton, the newly named chair of the House Ethics Committee, in a friendly exchange before leaving the Capitol this evening. Asked if she had anything to say after the two-hour, closed-door House GOP…
House Republicans were closeted in a closed-door caucus for two hours this afternoon; once they emerged around 5 p.m., House Speaker Scott Bedke said he had nothing to announce. He said there’s been no decision made on whether to reinstate Rep. Heather Scott’s committee assignments…
Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, just issued this statement in advance of this afternoon’s House GOP caucus meeting: “There is a pressing need for the House to bring about reconciliation that is badly needed and that, I trust, we all desire. Allowing the circumstances surrounding me…
Two federal agencies have approved a 2.4-mile-long open pit phosphate mine proposed by a Canadian company in southeastern Idaho. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service late last week issued separate records of decisions approving the plan by Calgary-based Agrium. The BLM manages the area...
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press that mentions Idaho: WASHINGTON (AP) — Kids in remote schools in grizzly bear territory might need protection from the animals, so Donald Trump's choice to run the Education Department thinks it could be appropriate for teachers and administrators there to carry guns. Betsy DeVos told senators...
The U.S. Department of Energy is likely to miss another deadline under its 1995 agreement to remove nuclear waste stored in Idaho, according to agency and state officials. The DOE committed in the 1995 settlement to clean up some 65,000 cubic meters of waste by...
Retired Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Jones today told the Twin Falls Rotary Club that Idaho has “a moral responsibility to welcome Middle Eastern refugees” because the U.S. helped initiate the refugee crisis by invading Iraq “and creating great instability in the Middle East.”…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
| Dec. 2017 | Nov. 2017 | Oct. 2017 | Sept. 2017 |
| Aug. 2017 | July 2017 | June 2017 | May 2017 |
| April 2017 | March 2017 | Feb. 2017 | Jan. 2017 |
