On tonight’s “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television, there’s a rundown of the events of the week; co-host Melissa Davlin interviews House Speaker Scott Bedke; and producer Seth Ogilvie interviews Sen. Cliff Bayer. On the pundits panel, I join Marty Peterson, Justin Vaughn, co-host Aaron…
The Senate has voted 33-1 in favor of HB 211, to raise the invasive species sticker for out-of-state motorboat owners coming to Idaho from the current $22 to $30 on Jan. 1, 2018; Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Moscow, cast the only “no” vote. The stickers raise…
Idaho officials say a plan from congressional Republicans to replace President Barack Obama's health care law could result in a mass exodus from the state's health insurance exchange, the AP reports. Your Health Idaho Director Pat Kelly said Friday...
Health care legislation backed by a half-dozen House Republicans was introduced by a unanimous vote of the House Ways & Means Committee today. House Majority Caucus Chair John VanderWoude, R-Nampa, said, “I sat on the interim committee during last session and one of the conclusions…
Gov. Butch Otter sent a letter to Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill yesterday opposing the repeal of Idaho’s 6 percent sales tax on groceries; you can read it here. Otter wrote that he wanted to “clearly state my opposition,” and wrote, “People buy groceries in…
The Senate has voted unanimously in favor of HB 230, the Idaho Fish & Game “price lock” fee increase bill, which also includes a new surcharge to fund depredation payments and hunting and fishing access. “Although it may not be perfect, it is a good…
The House has adjourned for the weekend; meanwhile, a tense hearing is continuing in the House State Affairs Committee, which is hearing from crime victims and others on a proposed constitutional amendment to beef up victims’ rights. House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, said…
A proposal from Sen. Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson, to revise Idaho’s laws on when a person can lawfully shoot someone else in self-defense or in defense of another, aimed at “stand your ground” and “castle” doctrines like those enacted in other states, ran into flak at…
The Senate State Affairs Committee voted unanimously this morning in favor of legislation designed to settle a lawsuit by the Visual Arts Collective against the Idaho State Police by writing an exemption into the state’s laws banning nudity and explicit live performances at places licensed…
When a sweeping transportation funding bill calling for hundreds of millions in bonding, local-option taxes, funding shifts and an array of other moves to fund improvements to Idaho roads fell one vote short in a Senate committee yesterday, Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, who long has…