House Education Chairman Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, is praising the work of a bipartisan group of legislators that's been meeting for three weeks to craft consensus legislation on how to temporarily suspend various state laws to allow cuts in Idaho's budget for public schools. Nonini's…
It's all online now - Gov. Butch Otter has posted on the Internet a list of all proposals submitted to his Division of Financial Management for consideration for federal stimulus funding. You can see the list here. The governor encourages anyone who submitted a request…
Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, has withdrawn his bill to allow people to ask a judge to expunge all their criminal records if they're not convicted, including records of trials and arrests. Hart said he was encouraged by the defeat last week of HB 71, a…
Freshman Rep. Steve Hartgen's controversial Internet harassment bill is dead for the session; it was on the House Judiciary Committee's agenda this afternoon, but was withdrawn at the sponsor's request. "I got a lot of very positive comments on the concept, but there were questions…
Gov. Butch Otter says there's still time for lawmakers to pass a transportation tax increase this year, and he's holding out hope that around $150 million of his proposed increases will be approved by the Legislature, the AP reports. So far, two of the six…
Here’s a news item from AP: “A lobbyist recently named to a panel that will help the governor decide how to use Idaho's share of federal stimulus money just got paid to kill one of the governor's own highway construction funding bills. Mike Brassey, a…
GOP state schools Supt. Tom Luna says he was among those who opposed passage of the huge federal stimulus package, but, “I’m also very pragmatic when it comes to the stimulus dollars. … The fact is, this is a bill and the money’s coming," he…
Defending his proposal to cut $62 million from schools next year rather than dip into the state’s $114 million public education stabilization fund, State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna told lawmakers this morning, “Let me give you the Thelma and Louise scenario – this is…
Mike Rush, director of the Office of the State Board of Education, says rather than “stimulus package,” he likes to refer to the federal bill as “the stem-the-bleeding package.” He told JFAC this morning, “We think it will act much like a Band-Aid does –…
Gov. Butch Otter will release the first – long – list of stimulus funding requests he’s received this afternoon at 4. Otter’s press secretary, Jon Hanian, said today’s list will be just the request from non-governmental organizations; those from government agencies will follow on Tuesday.…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
