Personal bills in House address concealed weapons, same-sex marriage, more…

A long list of newly introduced bills was read across the desk in the House today, prior to the break, including an array of personal bills sponsored by individual lawmakers; today is the deadline for personal bills in the House. Among those introduced today:

* Rep. Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, introduced his minimum wage increase as a personal bill, after the Senate State Affairs Committee refused to grant it an introductory hearing.

* Reps. Ron Nate and Heather Scott introduced their two versions of permitless concealed carry legislation as personal bills. Asked why, Nate, R-Rexburg, said, “We approached the House committee chair, and he said no.”

* Reps. John McCrostie and Mat Erpelding introduced a personal bill to repeal the Idaho Constitution’s ban on same-sex marriage, which has been overturned in court.

* Nate introduced personal bills to repeal the SBAC as a state testing requirement, and to repeal the state health insurance exchange, and instead “revert back to the federal Affordable Care Act.” He said both were campaign promises he’s trying to keep. “I’m going to work my hardest to get them moving along the process,” he said.