The Senate Resources Committee vote unanimously this afternoon to recommend confirmation of the appointment of former House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, to the Idaho Water Resources Board. The vote came two days after the same panel put the appointment on hold, after Sen. Cliff…
After more than an hour’s debate and two unsuccessful motions, the House has voted 59-11 – a straight party-line vote, with all Republicans voting yes and all Democrats voting no – to pass HB 463, the governor’s income tax-cut bill. House Majority Leader Mike Moyle,...
Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, moved to “divide the question,” dividing HB 463, the governor’s tax-cut bill, into two parts – conformity with federal tax changes, and cuts to Idaho income taxes, including rate cuts and a new child tax credit. Nate said he was making...
As the House debates HB 463, the governor’s income tax-cut bill, Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, interrupted with a motion to send the bill to general orders for amendment. Scott said she wanted the bill sent to the amending order “to add grocery tax repeal and...
House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, informed the House this morning that the governor's income tax-cut bill, HB 463, will be moved up the calendar and debated and voted on today. Otherwise, it would have been the 11th bill on House's 3rd Reading Calendar today.
The House State Affairs Committee took another three hours of public testimony today on the proposal to call for an Article V convention of states to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution, but concluded its meeting today without taking a vote on the measure. The…
The House Health & Welfare Committee has voted 7-5 in favor of HB 464, the Idaho Health Care Plan, sending it to the full House with a recommendation that it “do pass.” “There was a lot of great testimony today,” said Rep. Jarom Wagoner, R-Caldwell....
The House Health & Welfare Committee has heard more than two and a half hours of testimony so far this morning on HB 464, the Idaho Health Care Plan, nearly all of it in favor. One of the few exceptions was the Idaho Freedom Foundation,...
Here is the section of Idaho’s proposed new school science standards that the House Education Committee has voted to delete, along with all sections of “supporting content” throughout the science standards: "ESS3-4 Earth and Human Activity Students who demonstrate understanding can: ESS3-4-1 Obtain and combine...
The House Education Committee has voted 12-4 in favor of a motion from Rep. Scott Syme, R-Caldwell, to remove one standard regarding earth science, energy and pollution and how fourth-graders should be taught about it from the proposed new school science standards for Idaho, and...
Rep. John McCrostie, D-Boise, offered a substitute motion to approve the school science standards as presented. “The reason why I make this motion is based on hearing from so many science teachers from my area, from across the state, and in respect for the diligent…
Rep. Scott Syme, R-Caldwell, has moved to approve the proposed new school science standards with two changes: Deleting one section, in which he said he objected to a single sentence regarding energy, including air pollution from burning of fossil fuels, that he said he felt “led to conclusions;” and eliminating all sections...
As the House Education Committee this morning takes up school science standards, Rep. Gayann DeMordaunt, R-Eagle, asked state Superintendent of Schools Sherri Ybarra if the proposed new standards are based on “next generation” science standards, and how many other states have followed that model. “This…
Idaho Department of Insurance Director Dean Cameron told the House Health & Welfare Committee this morning, at the hearing on HB 464, the Idaho Health Care Plan, “This is an innovative, creative solution that addresses the problems we’re having here in Idaho. … The goals…
The House Health & Welfare Committee has opened its hearing this morning on the Idaho Health Care Plan, HB 464; that’s the Otter Administration’s dual-waiver plan. It would authorize the state to seek waivers from the federal government in order to launch the plan, which…
A proposal to use $11.4 million in tobacco settlement dollars to pay for the governor's "dual-waiver" health care plan caused a partisan rift Tuesday among the Joint Millennium Fund Committee, The Lewiston Tribune reports. The money comes from a 1998 settlement with the major tobacco firms. Four Democrats on the committee suggested...
Rep. Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer, announced today that she is resigning her legislative seat to focus full-time on her campaign for governor. “It has been my privilege to be elected by and to serve the people of the fifth district since 2014,” said Jordan. “My priority...
Idaho lawmakers took turns grilling a newly appointed state tax commissioner over concerns surrounding her marriage to one of the Legislature's most vocal tax cut proponents, the AP reports. Gov. Butch Otter appointed former GOP Rep. Janet Moyle...
The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy has released an analysis of HB 463, the governor’s tax-cut bill that’s headed to a vote in the full house, and it found that the bill would increase taxes on larger middle-class families while shifting the tax load away…
Idaho would join 27 other states to define and regulate electric bicycles under a newly introduced bill. Rep. Phylis King, a Democrat from Boise, said Tuesday her legislation would create three categories of e-bikes. If approved, cities and counties would have jurisdiction...
The intricacies of the state’s administrative rules process create this twist to tomorrow’s House Education Committee consideration of school science standards: It may not matter what the panel does. Last year, because the House committee insisted on deleting five sections regarding climate change from the…
Former Idaho House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, has endorsed A.J. Balukoff for governor. Rusche announced the endorsement last night during a Nez Perce County Democratic Party meeting in Lewiston. Balukoff faces state Rep. Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer, in the May 15 Democratic primary for governor.…
After nearly three hours of testimony both for and against – mostly against – the House State Affairs Committee wrapped up its hearing on HCR 32, which calls for an Article V convention of the states to amend the U.S. Constitution, for today; it’ll continue…
The House Health & Welfare Committee has voted 8-4 in favor of bipartisan legislation to restore non-emergency dental coverage to Medicaid patients who lost it in cutbacks imposed in 2011. “Not only will we alleviate a lot of human suffering by doing this, but I...
More of the testimony from today’s hearing on HCR 32, calling for an Article V convention of states to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution: Adrienne Evans said, “We risk a runaway convention,” and said, “Our Constitution works. The United States Constitution has guided our...