Here’s a link to my Sunday article on five things to watch in the upcoming Idaho legislative session, and a link to our story in Sunday's Spokesman-Review on how uncertainty over the fate of health care reform is playing out as both Idaho and Washington…
Here’s a link to my Sunday column, on state Treasurer Ron Crane’s announcement that he won’t seek re-election at the end of his current term in 2018; Sen. Mike Crapo being named chairman of the powerful Senate Banking Committee; prospects for Idaho lawmakers taking up…
Tonight’s “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television includes an update on the events of the week, and thoughts from citizens, local government leaders, education and local government lobbyists and more about the upcoming legislative session. There’s also a full report from today’s AP Legislative Preview,…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A judge has rejected Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's lawsuit contending the Obama administration acted illegally by imposing federal land-use restrictions intended to protect the sage grouse in Idaho and southwestern Montana. U.S.…
Asked about faith healing and Idaho’s religious exemption from prosecution when children are denied medical care in favor of prayer, Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, was non-committal. “We put together that working group for the purposes of studying the issue more fully, seeing how...
Legislative leaders from both parties were sharply critical this morning of the state Department of Education for “sitting on” problematic teacher-evaluation audit data for six months, before it finally came out through public records requests and suggested extensive problems with the evaluation process. House Speaker...
Top legislative leaders are addressing reporters this morning at the AP Legislative Preview. Among their comments thus far: House Minority Leader Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, said his caucus hopes to “continue to partner with the majority party as much as possible on education policy in Idaho,”…
Gov. Butch Otter said today, “I think the legislative session should be short. … My focus again is going to be on education.” He said, “We’re starting to realize the promise the career ladder,” the teacher-pay improvement plan that’s now entering its third and biggest...
At today’s AP Legislative Preview, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has announced he’s forming a higher education task force similar to his K-12 education improvement task force that launched the state’s current five-year plan to improve Idaho’s schools. “The task force initiative will be to do...
Idaho state Treasurer Ron Crane announced this week that he won’t see re-election in 2018 to a sixth term, and will retire instead. “Twenty years is a long time and I've enjoyed it immensely but I believe it is time for someone else to put…
Idaho lawmakers may consider expanding a jobs incentive that state officials say already is generating hundreds of new jobs in the state; Sandpoint Sen. Shawn Keough says it could do more for small, rural communities like those in her North Idaho district. You can read...
Idaho GOP Sen. Mike Crapo was named chairman of the Senate Banking Committee today, succeeding Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama. The Senate tonight passed a resolution ratifying an earlier vote of the committee making Crapo the new chair. He had been in line for the chairmanship…
New Idaho Supreme Court Justice Robyn Brody was formally invested in her new office today, in a ceremony that included heartfelt remarks both from Brody and from new Chief Justice Roger Burdick; a ceremonial “robing” in which Brody’s husband, 5th District Judge Jonathan Brody, helped...
Idaho’s tight labor market is expected to continue, state Department of Labor officials told lawmakers today, with the labor force growing by 24 percent from 2000 to 2016, while the population grew by 35 percent. But the population gains are projected to come...
“Tepid” has been “kind of the word for the decade so far” when it comes to the stock market, Bob Maynard, chief investment officer for the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho, told lawmakers today. “This year, as I speak, the capital markets outlook is warmer than it was previously but still...
Megan Ronk, director of the Idaho Department of Commerce, told lawmakers today, “Overall, I would say that I’m very optimistic. Certainly we have some challenges that we have to work through and that we’ll continue to face at a statewide level, but Idaho is continually…
The U.S. economy is predicted to grow 2 percent this fiscal year, and 2.2 percent in each of the subsequent years, fiscal year 2018 and 2019, Idaho chief economist Derek Santos told lawmakers today. “That’s pretty moderate,” Santos said. And Idaho’s economy is likely to...
Lawmakers on the joint Economic Outlook Committee began their work today by going over their information packet, which is online here. It’s packed with information about Idaho’s economy, from 10-year trends in state economic indicators to population by county, and from gross state product by...
The Legislature’s joint Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee is convening this morning at the Capitol, for a full day of hearings on the state of Idaho’s economy as lawmakers prepare to gauge how much tax revenue will be available for next year’s state budget....
According to the Idaho Office of Emergency Management, we’re in for a weather trifecta: First the snow, then extreme cold temperatures, then flooding as temperatures rise to above freezing by Sunday. “One of Idaho’s major hazards is flooding following significant snowfall and subsequent rapid thawing,”…
A group of veterinarians from Mexico is suing an Idaho dairy in federal court, contending that the dairy lured them under false pretenses and then forced them to work in poor conditions as low-wage general laborers as part of a human trafficking scheme. The lawsuit against Funk Dairy Inc. in the small southern Idaho town of Murtaugh was filed...
Idaho received the fourth-lowest grade in the nation for its school system today, as Education Week released its annual rankings of state school systems. Idaho EdNews reports that Idaho’s grade came in at 67.6, a D-plus, topping only New Mexico, Mississippi and Nevada. The ranking…
Idaho's top schools chief was quietly working with a company that was auditing the state's teacher evaluation system to build a replacement system while the audit was still underway, the AP has learned through public records requests. The audit by McRel International found that 99 percent of the evaluations reviewed were incomplete...
Both of Idaho’s U.S. House members – GOP Reps. Mike Simpson and Raul Labrador – opposed the secret vote to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, reports Rob Hotakainen of McClatchy News. Simpson’s spokeswoman, Nikki Wallace, told McClatchy, “Congressman Simpson voted no and spoke against…
Kootenai County is Idaho’s powerboating king, according to a new economic impact study from the Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation and Boise State University, with $89.8 million spent there on powerboating in 2015, more than Ada County’s $60.3 million, No. 3 Bonner County’s $39.2…
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