House Education Chairman Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, has thrown in the towel on his $10 milion tax credit bill for private school scholarships; he just asked for unanimous consent to return the bill to the House Education Committee. "In light of HB 670 as amended and we being at the end of our session, I think probably the right thing to do without asking this body to vote on a suspension of rule and to continue to work on this and maybe look at it again, next year, I would ask HB 670 be returned to the Education Committee," Nonini told the House.

At that point, House Speaker Lawerence Denney said with a grin, "I think we're out of business." The House has cleared its calendar, having approved the final three JFAC bills, HB 701, the trailer appropriation bill on the judges' retirement fund; HB 702, the year-end transfer bill, including transfers to the budget stabilization fund; and HB 703, the appropriation to the Attorney General's office of $500,000 from a legal settlement to help homeowners facing foreclosure.