Watchers of the Idaho Legislature are reeling over the news that a panel of state lawmakers from both houses – not listed among the official legislative interim committees or task forces that have been holding open public meetings streamed live on the internet – has been meeting all summer to discuss tax policy and tax relief. “It’s not an interim committee per se,” House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said Friday. “It’s more of an ad-hoc working group.” Bedke said the effort started when a group of legislative leaders went down to Utah in July to meet with lawmakers there who worked on a successful modified flat-tax bill close to a decade ago/Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise. More here.

Question: What do you think of leading Idaho Republican legislators hammering out tax policy behind closed doors?