In one of the strangest moments yet in this year's most unusual legislative session, the House finished its calendar and attempted to adjourn sine die, which means without a day to come back. But when the House sent its formal delegation to the Senate to…
SB 1166, a controversial bill to retroactively alter provisions regarding the state insurance fund, just passed the House 50-16. That's the last bill the House is taking up tonight. Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, announced that a barbecue scheduled for tomorrow is being put off…
The House has voted 52-13 in favor of HB 334, which raises an array of DMV fees by a total of $13.1 million a year. Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, told the House the Idaho Transportation Department had provided plenty of data to show the increase…
Day-care licensing legislation has won passage in the House on a 61-5 vote, after Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d'Alene, spent five years relentlessly, but until now unsuccessfully, proposing it. "This is good legislation - it meets the needs of parents for safe child care," Sayler…
The House took up its first duplicate budget bill - one of those that the House Appropriations Committee introduced the same day that JFAC had introduced an identical bill. Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, objected. "It is a concern that I have and several in…
On SB 1232a, the second version of the bighorn sheep bill - the earlier one was vetoed, then the new one was introduced, then amended in the Senate, then sent to the House - Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, told the House, "I have to tell…
House members gathered for pizza in a back room during a short break, showing what a long night they have ahead trying to clear their agenda. So far, they've already passed more than 30 bills, but at least a dozen and a half more remain…
The Senate has adjourned until tomorrow morning, after receiving the election consolidation bill and referring it for a committee hearing later this week. "We made some great progress today," said Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls. "We got those education bills all passed. This…
The Senate has voted 32-1 in favor of HB 311, the budget for the Idaho Transportation Department. The bill passed the House 52-14 about two weeks ago, but has been hanging on the Senate calendar awaiting a vote as the two houses wrangled over transportation…
The House has voted 51-15 in favor of HB 372, the new version of the election consolidation bill. The sweeping, 98-page piece of legislation would consolidate Idaho elections to four dates. In the new version, the state would cover the costs, rather than requiring school…
The House has passed the resolution calling for an interim committee to study transportation funding; HCR 31 passed on a 61-5 vote. "We think it's a step to bring this transportation discussion to a close for this session," House Majority Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly,…
Gov. Butch Otter has issued the following statement in response to the House leadership's press conference this afternoon: “I appreciate that they now are about one-third of the way to where we need to go, and are acknowledging the need. But we have put off…
The Senate has given the same vote - 26-7 - to the third public school appropriation bill, HB 325, for the operations division, matching the vote on the two earlier divisions. Again, there was emotional debate. "I'm very sad to be part of the first…
The House has voted unanimously, 64-0 - with no debate - to pass HB 338, the new bill to eliminate the fuel tax exemption for ethanol.
The debate on the second public school budget bill, for the division of teachers, was an emotional one in the Senate. Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, said, "I've always supported education ... yet there are those that believe we're the bad guys in this economic stress.…
The Senate has reconvened and is taking up the five public school budget bills that earlier passed the House. The first one, on the division of administrators, passed on a 26-7 vote, with opposition coming from the Senate's six Democrats who are present and Sen.…
Senate Transportation Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell, had this reaction to the House plan for an interim committee to study transportation funding: "I'm trying to think of an issue over the last two years that has been studied and talked about more than transportation funding. Every…
House GOP leaders called a press conference to announce that they plan to adjourn sine die tonight. "Our plans are to complete our work and adjourn sine die later this afternoon or this evening," said Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly. Before leaving, he said, the House…
The House Ways & Means Committee has voted 4-3 in three straight party-line votes to introduce three new bills: A compromise on election consolidation, with the state covering school district and local government costs; a concurrent resolution calling for an interim committee to study transportation…
The House Resources Committee is addressing the new bighorn sheep bill that came over from the Senate, while Ways & Means has three new bills on its agenda: A compromise on election consolidation, in which the state would cover school district costs for all four…
The House is taking a break to allow the Resources and Ways & Means committees to meet.
The House has now launched into passing budget bills whose previous versions were vetoed; the first two, for the Office of Species Conservation and the Department of Parks & Recreation, passed easily with no debate. The votes: 57-8 on HB 330, species conservation; and 55-10…
The final two school budget bills, HB 326 for the division of children's programs, and HB 327 for the division of facilities, both have passed the House overwhelmingly, on 65-3 and 63-4 votes respectively. The controversial cuts in the school budget were in the earlier…
HB 325, the bill for the operations portion of the public school budget, has passed the House on a 44-24 vote, similar to the previous two votes. Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, noted that the bill includes a shift of $20 million of school funding that…
House Resources Chairman Bert Stevenson just announced that the Resources Committee will meet when the House recesses, and Ways & Means Chairman Rich Wills announced that Ways & Means also will meet when the House recesses. The announcements came just after the 45-24 vote on…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
