With the defeat today of Gov. Butch Otter's $61.6 million gas tax hike proposal, some are looking back to last year's $68.5 million road-funding compromise that lawmakers offered but Otter spurned. "Hindsight is always 20-20," House Speaker Lawerence Denney told the AP today. "If he…
JFAC members are gathered in the 5th-floor library of the Capitol Annex to try to figure out how to fashion budget bills that implement the proposed 5 percent cut in personnel funds across the state budget. Among the options they're kicking around: Mandating a 2…
Stunned backers of the governor's gas tax bill said they hope the governor will be able to come up with some kind of plan that will clear the House. “I’ll continue to work with the governor’s office to see if there’s another proposal that would…
Here's Gov. Butch Otter's response to the failure of his gax tax increase bill in the House:“I’m disappointed by today’s outcome, but I appreciate the constructive debate and I am not giving up. My staff and I continue to talk with legislators, as do representatives…
The governor's legislation to increase Idaho's gas tax has failed in the House, on a 27-43 vote.The debate in the House lasted for close to two hours, with representatives from throughout the state speaking out for and against the bill. "I'm going to support this…
The first six representatives to speak in the debate on the gas tax bill after the opening debate were two in favor, four against. Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, spoke out in favor, citing Gov. Butch Otter's executive order promising stricter accountability measures for transportation…
Here's a link to the governor's executive order and letter to lawmakers promising new accountability measures for the Idaho Transportation Department. "If you don't think the governor is serious about running a tighter ship at the Department of Transportation, you have another think coming," House…
The House has begun debating HB 246, the governor's bill to increase Idaho's gas tax by 7 cents over the next three years, to raise money for road maintenance. The tax is now 25 cents per gallon. "This is a bill that you've all been…
Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, says he's been promoting his idea about changing the "bands," or groupings, for car and light truck registration fees for the past year, dropping to three groups rather than five. "I've submitted that idea for over a year, but nobody…
Under the governor's new vehicle registration fee bill, after three years, owners of new cars would pay 37.5 percent more than they do now in annual registration fees, while owners of the oldest cars - those more than eight years old - would pay 75…
The new vehicle registration fee bill introduced this morning will go to a full hearing in the House Transportation Committee, the Ways & Means Committee decided this morning. "The recommendation is to the Transportation Committee for full hearing," said Rep. Rich Wills, R-Glenns Ferry, chairman…
The House Ways & Means Committee has voted unanimously to introduce an entirely new bill on raising car and truck registration fees, proposed this morning by the governor's office. "This is another attempt at vehicle registration legislation - it's another approach," Jason Kreizenbeck, Gov. Butch…
Former state schools Superintendent Marilyn Howard says she’s “pretty much kept my mouth shut and my eyes and ears open” since leaving office in 2006 after two terms. But in a guest opinion in the Idaho Statesman today, she offered her ideas on how the…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
