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 the committee is dealing with a “difficult issue.”

House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, noted that there were lots of questions on every bill when the House was in session. “There’s a lot of tension, and sometimes you get to the point where you’ve got to step back and let everybody calm down,” he said. Also, he said JFAC Co-Chair Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, is gone until Monday so he didn’t want to take up major budget bills until she returned; among those pending are the bills that make up the public school budget.

With the Senate yesterday amending the House income tax-cut bill into a grocery tax repeal bill, and Gov. Butch Otter speaking out against repeal of the grocery tax, Moyle said it’s not yet clear where everything’s headed, and a break is a good idea at this point. “Sometimes, it’s better to take a step back,” he said.