In my Sunday column, I take a look at the House Education Committee’s move last week – amid much confusion – to try again on deleting part of school science standards, a move several committee members dubbed “futile” as the Senate already has decided to…
On tonight’s “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television, there’s a report on legislative leaders’ comments last week on gun violence; the big rally at the state Capitol in which nearly 2,000 Idaho high school and junior high students protested against gun violence; and a panel…
Legislation to beef up Idaho’s laws on violent threats against schools cleared the Senate today on a 32-1 vote after much debate. “We must do something,” said Sen. Abby Lee, R-Fruitland. “There is more we could do and likely should do to protect our schools,...
Idaho state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra has issued this statement on the House’s vote to kill her office budget, amid a dispute over the Idaho Reading Indicator: “I am not surprised by this vote, and I’m pleased Rep. Ryan Kerby highlighted concerns that expansion of…
The Senate has been moving briskly through a long list of House-passed bills this morning, passing them on either unanimous or near-unanimous votes and sending them to the governor’s desk. Among the bills that have passed so far are HB 620, restricting the use of…
The House has just voted 27-42 on the SB 1354, the budget bill for state Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra’s office – killing the Senate-passed budget bill. The budget bill includes no funding to expand a pilot program of a new, computerized version of...
The Senate State Affairs Committee held an informational hearing this morning on SB 1337, the latest version of legislation proposed by an interim working group on campaign finance reform. The bill, co-sponsored by Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney and Ada County Chief Deputy Clerk…
The Idaho state Board of Education, in a special meeting this afternoon, voted unanimously to oppose HB 693, a measure introduced yesterday by House Education Chair Julie VanOrden, R-Pingree, which calls for Idaho school districts to select their own reading assessment next...
A panel of Idaho lawmakers says the state should reimburse two ranchers for legal costs they incurred fighting the federal government for rights to streams and other water bodies that livestock rely on when grazing on federally managed land. The House State Affairs Committee passed the proclamation on a voice vote Thursday, stating that $600,000...
While health care advocates rallied at the Capitol today, calling for lawmakers to take back up Gov. Butch Otter’s health coverage gap proposal, which was pulled from the House floor without a vote two weeks ago, lawmakers are showing few signs that they’ll do so;…
The Idaho Senate this afternoon approved amendments to HB 547, a controversial House-passed bill to forbid local communities from adopting any residential building code or energy code provisions that are more up-to-date or more stringent than those adopted by a state board. “This bill had...
Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little, state Insurance Director Dean Cameron and Sen. Jim Risch met with federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma and White House advisers yesterday in Washington, D.C., and came away hopeful about working out a version of the…
The Legislative Council met today and unanimously approved a slate of interim committees for the coming year, with an eye toward having some start meeting before lawmakers leave town for this year’s session. With an Idaho Supreme Court decision now requiring lawmakers to present all…
A string of recent high-profile endorsements inside Idaho’s Democratic gubernatorial race is offering insight on where the candidates plan on drawing their support. Former state lawmaker Paulette Jordan announced today she had secured support from Democracy for America in her bid to be Idaho's next governor...
Health care advocates rallied in the state Capitol today, calling for lawmakers to take back up the stalled Idaho Health Care Plan bill, which was pulled from the House floor without a vote two weeks ago. The bill, HB 464, would allow about half of…
As the Senate was voting 34-1 in favor of the budget for the coming year for the office of the state superintendent of schools today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Winder, R-Boise, sounded a warning. Citing restrictive “intent language” in the spending bill, the Boise Republican...
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter says he has reluctantly allowed legislation eliminating the requirement for high school students to take math classes during their senior year to become law. Otter announced Wednesday that he feared the bill would undermine the state's investment in science and mathematics in Idaho's public education system. However...
The Senate has passed the public school budget – the single largest slice of Idaho’s state budget pie – with no debate, and with only one “no” vote on any of the seven bills that make up the budget, from Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Moscow. Foreman…
A mid-session rewrite of a bill overhauling Idaho’s trespass laws has not been enough to assuage concerns about its legal ramifications, the Idaho Statesman reports. After lengthy hearings, the bill's Senate sponsor asked a Senate committee Wednesday to put the bill up for amendment...
The Senate passed bipartisan legislation Wednesday designed to ease bank rules enacted to prevent a relapse of the 2008 financial crisis that caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs and homes, the AP reports. The Senate voted 67-31 for a bill from GOP Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho that would dial back portions of the law known as Dodd-Frank...
How did an Idaho prison inmate who was serving time for drunken driving get housed with a cellmate who was a triple murderer – and end up dead, stabbed, beaten and strangled in his cell last year? AP reporter Rebecca Boone looked into it. The…
The Idaho Judicial Council has submitted four nominees to Gov. Butch Otter for the opening on the Idaho Supreme Court created by the retirement of Justice Warren Jones. The four finalists: 7th District Judge Greg Moeller of Rexburg; Boise attorney Christine Salmi; 2nd District Judge…
After much debate – which stretched from the Senate’s morning session into its afternoon session – the Idaho Senate has voted 21-14 in favor of HB 638, to set up extensive new reporting requirements for complications resulting from abortions, including all types of health conditions,…
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has signed into law a roadkill bill that would allow motorists or passers-by to humanely dispatch a badly injured animal unintentionally hit by a vehicle. Currently, Idaho law says only law enforcement officers can dispatch such animals. Otter gave his signature...
House and Senate Democrats held a news conference this afternoon to call for action this year on Idaho’s health coverage gap, in which 78,000 Idahoans make too much to qualify for the state’s Medicaid program, but not enough to be eligible to buy subsidized health...
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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