County Commission going to Spirit Lake

The new Kootenai County Commission is taking a road trip tonight to Spirit Lake for its first town hall meeting.

Commission Chairman Rick Currie said the idea is to travel to every area of the county and give residents a chance to talk with the commission.

The gatherings are modeled after get-togethers hosted by local state legislators who return from Boise and want to tell residents what’s happening in the Capitol.

There’s no agenda for tonight’s meeting, just whatever locals want to discuss.

“It’s just so we can be more transparent and out and about in public,” said Commissioner Rich Piazza, who was elected in November along with Commissioner Todd Tondee.

Spirit Lake Mayor Roxy Martin is encouraging local residents to attend. She plans to ask the commission about the current rewrite of the county’s growth plan, the foundation of its land-use decisions. She wants to know whether the county intends to leave rural areas rural or allow for large housing developments that resemble towns.

The town hall meeting will follow the Spirit Lake City Council meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at the Spirit Lake Senior Center, 32564 N. Fourth. For more information, call the commission office, 446-1600.

Boise

Bill would require party registration

Lawmakers agreed to introduce legislation Monday to require party registration in Idaho. Last week, the House State Affairs Committee, which did not notice that the bill’s co-sponsors included the entire House GOP leadership team, refused to introduce the bill.

Party leaders met with their members on the issue after that flub, and this time, the bill was introduced with just one “no” vote, from Democratic Rep. Elaine Smith of Pocatello.

Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, told the committee he’d made a few changes to the bill “based on many of the comments you made last week.” The bill still requires Idaho voters to register with a political party or to register with no party, and then doesn’t let them vote in a party’s primary unless they’re registered members of that party.

It does allow an exception, however, if a party chooses to open its primary to independents or to members of other parties.

The concept, though endorsed by the Idaho Republican Party platform, is a controversial one in a state in which a third of voters identify themselves as independents. The measure is now co-sponsored by 21 House Republicans, including all four members of leadership.

Workers’ comp plan sent back for change

Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, proposed legislation Monday to exempt churches from workers’ compensation laws, but a House committee voted unanimously to return the bill to Harwood for more work.

Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, an attorney who handles workers’ compensation issues, said while he saw merit in Harwood’s intention to exempt pastors from the requirement on grounds of separation of church and state, the bill was overly broad and would have exempted church secretaries, janitors and even people who work in church-owned businesses, such as thrift shops and farms.

Harwood told the committee, “We don’t allow the church to tell the state what to do. … The state is coming in … saying you mandatorily got to do this. It’s a double-edged sword when you’re talking about separation of church and state.”

From staff reports