More bill-reading, more objections, and the House screeches to a halt…
Well, the House came back on the floor after its mid-day recess, and when Rep. Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay, asked unanimous consent to waive further reading of the next bill, the Idaho Transportation Department budget bill, Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, objected. So the clerk read the lengthy budget bill in full. Then, the House voted unanimously – 69-0 – in favor of the bill.
Then, Rep. Rick Youngblood, R-Nampa, rose to present the next bill up, SB 1120, on booting squatters out of residences. Youngblood took care to recite the full, formal wording that the Senate uses to request to waive the full reading, but Rep. Karey Hanks, R-St. Anthony, still objected.
With that, House GOP Caucus Chair John VanderWoude, R-Nampa, rose and said, “Speaker, can you put the House at ease so the majority party may caucus?” With a crash of the gavel, the House went at ease and Republicans headed into a closed-door caucus.