Legislation that cleared the House Education Committee today would permanently end state funding for field trips and change how school districts are reimbursed for student transportation. The move is designed to save $4.2 million next year; click below to read the full story from AP…
Promoting his state sovereignty resolution on the floor of the Idaho House of Representatives today, St. Maries Rep. Dick Harwood declared that the United States is really a "confederacy." "To be accurate, we're a confederated republic," the fifth-term Republican then told the House. Political scientists…
HB 213, the bill to require all boats launched in Idaho to carry an invasive species sticker to help raise money to combat quagga and zebra mussels, has cleared the Senate Resources Committee on a 7-1 vote. The bill earlier passed the House; it now…
HJM 4, a non-binding memorial sponsored by Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, to declare Idaho's sovereignty from the federal government and ask the feds to "cease and desist" from violating that sovereignty, passed the House just now on a 51-17 vote. Harwood read from the…
House Agriculture Chairman Tom Trail's resolution encouraging the state Historical Society to conduct a study of the state's historic agricultural buildings was rejected in the House on a 20-48 vote, after House GOP Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, spoke out against the measure, HCR 26,…
Idaho women are paid 60 percent of what men are paid, across all industries, according to the U.S. Census, placing Idaho among the four worst states in the nation for such pay disparity. Rep. Anne Pasley-Stuart, D-Boise, drew a unanimous vote of support in the…
"Neighborhood electric vehicles" could putt along roads with speed limits of up to 35 mph, instead of the current 25 mph, under legislation that just passed the House on a 67-1 vote. They could also cross roads that have speed limits of up to 45…
After more than two hours of testimony for and against the bill, the Senate State Affairs Committee has voted 6-3 in favor of SB 1148, Gov. Butch Otter's proposal to reform Idaho's liquor license system, which currently sets population-based quotas for liquor licenses but has…
"It's so disappointing" said several members of the Idaho Women's Commission, who gathered with Director Kitty Kunz in the Capitol Annex hallway after JFAC voted 15-5 to eliminate their funding and staffing. They were talking about scheduling their final meeting, and whether they had enough…
The Idaho Women's Commission would receive no state funding next year and its only part-time employee would be eliminated, under a budget that just won 15-5 approval from the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, made the motion for zero funding. She said each…
The Idaho Rural Partnership will be zero-funded next year, under a budget approved in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning for the state Department of Agriculture. Several committee members objected to the move, but supporters of the budget motion said the partnership's executive director is…
Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, led a move in JFAC this morning to fund $150,000 for matching money for two federal grants for Idaho Public Television to take advantage of a one-time federal opportunity to get licenses for new translators to fill the gaps in the…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has set a budget for state Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna that relies on a federal grant to fund a longitudinal data system, plus allows Luna to carry over $80,000 from this year's budget for that purpose. Gov. Butch Otter had…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
