The Senate Local Government & Taxation Committee held a hearing on HB 675 this afternoon, the bill to increase the child tax credit created in the earlier big income tax cut bill from $130 to $205 per child, and voted to advance it to the…
A proposal reversing a contentious 2016 law that made it easier for Idaho employers to sue former employees over non-compete agreements is headed to the governor's desk for consideration. House lawmakers approved the measure Tuesday despite some lawmakers saying the consequences of the current law...
Idaho officials have approved extending the contract of a financial adviser guiding the state through the process of reinvesting millions of dollars from the sale of commercial and residential real estate. The Idaho Land Board voted 5-0 Tuesday to retain Callan Associates through June 2019 at an annual cost of about $150,000...
A series of amendments to HB 658 proposed by Sen. Mark Harris, R-Soda Springs, the Senate sponsor of the anti-trespassing bill, have been approved by the Senate on divided but lopsided votes; while competing amendments from Senate Democrats - including one to strike the enacting…
The Senate has just resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole in its 14th Order, where it can amend bills, and the bill up for amendment is HB 658, the controversial trespassing crackdown bill that's been pushed by two Texas brothers who bought up…
Context: After the budget for the state Superintendent of Schools was unceremoniously killed on the House floor, JFAC reconvened today, under its able co-chairs, who crafted the successful new budget motion. So: The kids should all learn how to read And budgeting too must proceed…
If you are wondering why To tie on an ugly tie Big matters still pend Might majorities bend? Then all could adjourn sine die.
JFAC has voted 16-3 in favor of Rep. Maxine Bell’s motion for a new budget for the state Superintendent of Public Instruction that includes the statewide rollout next year of a new version of the Idaho Reading Indicator, which is currently in a pilot project...
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee is back in session this morning to set a new budget for the office of the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, including the question of the Idaho Reading Indicator, the early-reading assessment test for children in kindergarten through the third grade...
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on Rep. Christy Perry’s surprise move today to revive Gov. Butch Otter’s “Idaho Health Care Plan” proposal and send the dual-waiver measure to the full House for debate. “For six years, we have worked on trying...
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has signed into law a bill that would expand Idaho's open meeting laws. Otter signed the measure on Monday along with nearly 40 other bills. Beginning July 1, boards and commissions created by executive order will now be subjected to the Idaho Open Meeting Law. Currently, these panels are not required...
The Senate has voted 23-10 in favor of HB 566aaS, the charter school administrator bill, which would allow charter schools to pay top state school administrator salaries to people who lack the certification normally required for the job. “Charter schools are judged differently than traditional…
The Senate has voted 26-7 to pass an amended version of HB 547, the controversial bill to forbid local communities from amending or updating building codes beyond those adopted by a state board. Sen. Jim Patrick, R-Twin Falls, said the bill is “a big change...
Under legislation that’s headed for final passage in the Senate, the salary for Idaho’s governor would rise 9.5 percent next year, and then stay fixed for the next four years, as would those for all of Idaho’s full-time top officials except one: The Idaho Attorney General,...
Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, says he was surprised when he was approached by a signature-gatherer in downtown Boise during a legislative lunch break recently and asked to sign a petition for an initiative to legalize horse racing in Idaho. He asked the man if horse…
A divided House State Affairs Committee has voted to send Rep. Joe Palmer’s last-minute bill to sharply cut back the state prison system’s Correctional Industries program to the full House with a recommendation that it “do pass,” out of concern that it’s competing with private…
Rep. Christy Perry, R-Nampa, said she agonized over the weekend about how to help people in Idaho’s health coverage gap as this year’s Idaho legislative session winds down. “For six years, we have worked on trying to get coverage for those people in the gap,”...
In the hallway of the Capitol’s garden level just a few minutes ago, House Health & Welfare Chairman Fred Wood, R-Burley, came striding toward Gov. Butch Otter, who was outside the entrance to the Capitol cafeteria. “Your bill’s up on 2nd Reading tomorrow, so you’d...
After meeting in caucus behind closed doors all morning – since shortly after it convened – the Senate has come back to the floor only to recess until 3 p.m. Meanwhile, the House has recessed until 3:30. The House State Affairs Committee has announced it'll…
The House has voted 37-32 in favor of SB 1279, the Opportunity Scholarship bill, which will allow up to 20 percent of the state scholarship fund – which is due to be boosted next year from $10 million to $13.5 million a year – to...
House Speaker Scott Bedke left the speaker’s chair this morning to debate in favor of HP 1, a proclamation calling for Idaho’s Constitutional Defense Fund to be tapped to reimburse ranchers for legal fees in their successful private lawsuit in 2007 over stockwater rights. “They…
An Idaho House panel has revived a previously spiked health care proposal designed to provide coverage to low-income Idahoans. The House Health and Welfare Committee on Monday agreed to send HB 464 — which is backed by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter — once again to the House floor for consideration. The committee had already sent that same bill...
There’s a lot going on in the Statehouse today. So far, the Senate State Affairs Committee has agreed to introduce new legislation that would forbid making false statements while circulating an initiative petition – in response to reports that petition circulators for an instant-racing initiative…
The Idaho State Board of Education has narrowed the number of finalists for the president's post at Idaho State University down to three. Kevin Satterlee, Charles “Chuck” Wight and Laura Woodworth-Ney are expected to be interviewed April 2 as the state board works to select...
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…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
