The newly appointed House Ethics Committee investigating the conduct of Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, has scheduled a conference call meeting for 9 a.m. on Tuesday, July 6th. For those participating in person, the meeting will take place in the House State Affairs committee room, East…
House Speaker Lawerence Denney has appointed an ethics committee to investigate the conduct of Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol. Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, will chair the seven-member panel, and Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, will be vice-chair. The committee likely will meet in August."I have full confidence…
When two professors, Washington University law professor and political science department Chair Andrew Martin and Colorado State University political scientist Kyle Saunders, analyzed every vote cast in the Idaho Legislature, they found no evidence that Democratic crossover voting in Idaho's primary elections has resulted in…
An expert report commissioned by the state to defend its current primary election laws in a federal lawsuit includes this insight into party politics: Political parties in America have three "interrelated components," according to the state's experts, Andrew Martin of Washington University in St. Louis…
Here’s what the Idaho Republican Party considers proof that the state’s open primaries violate its constitutional rights: Too many conservative Republicans are losing to moderate Republicans. In a stack of affidavits and documentation submitted as part of a federal court case, the party contends that…
The Idaho Republican Party, at its state convention, has gone on record against the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIEDRA), the collaborative wilderness and economic development bill long pushed by GOP Congressman Mike Simpson and currently unanimously backed by every member of Idaho's…
By the close of the Idaho GOP state convention today, members had adopted a platform with a new loyalty test for candidates, a provision recommending Idaho withhold taxes from the federal government, a bid to limit marriage to "naturally born" men and women and an…
Here's how AP reporter John Miller sums up the action Friday at the Idaho Republican Party convention in Idaho Falls: Measure by measure, delegates to Idaho's 2010 Republican Convention on Friday cemented their place at the head of the nation's stalwart conservatives. More than three…
At the GOP convention in Idaho Falls yesterday, Gov. Butch Otter called on Republicans to unite and mentioned Congressman Mike Simpson and Sen. Mike Crapo, both of whom are up for re-election. But he didn't mention Raul Labrador, the GOP candidate for the 1st District…
Idaho doesn’t recognize gay or lesbian marriage, but some Republicans want the state to go a step further, the AP reports. A panel of GOP delegates at the state party’s convention passed a measure Friday to define marriage as a bond between a “naturally born”…
Once again, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keith Allred has outraised incumbent GOP Gov. Butch Otter, just as he did in the previous campaign finance reporting period before the primary. According to the two candidates' 30-day post-primary reports, from May 10 to June 4, Allred raised $118,861…
Idaho's state GOP convention kicked off today in Idaho Falls, with resolutions awaiting votes on everything from defining a fetus as a "person" to legalizing marijuana; the party also is set to debate a loyalty oath requirement, requiring its candidates sign an oath of loyalty…
Idaho State Rep. Phil Hart, who's currently facing a House ethics review over his ongoing fight over unpaid federal and state income taxes, has paid his property taxes late on his Kootenai County home every year since 2002 and had to pay hundreds in interest…
The state of Washington won today in the U.S. Supreme Court - and so did Idaho - as the high court upheld Washington's Public Records Act and its requirement that signatures on a referendum petition be public, not secret. Idaho has similar laws, and joined…
The Idaho State Police will begin using an electronic system to issue traffic citations starting July 1, with the result that the process of writing out a citation for a stopped motorist will drop from 5 minutes to less than a minute. "E-Ticketing will bring…
Here's a news item from The Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's four top tax collectors will still get paid for furlough hours they took to save money and show solidarity with state workers getting their pay cut, because the law forbids them from…
Close to 70 women turned out for Gov. Butch Otter's “Women’s Day in the Capitol” today, at which 32 female officials of Otter's administration explained what they and their agencies do, and then the governor and officials took questions from the audience. Questions ranged from…
It may seem like it's taken an awfully long time for the process to go through of appointing Idaho's new U.S. Attorney - after all, the Obama Administration has been in office for a year and a half. But Carl Tobias, a law professor at…
A quarter of Idaho's 200 cities lost population from July 1, 2008 to July 1, 2009, according to the Idaho Department of Labor and the U.S. Census Bureau. That's higher than the previous year, but still well below the number of Idaho cities that lost…
Here's a news item from The Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho leaders attended a ribbon-cutting to officially open a new $50-million drug treatment prison near Boise. Inmates will start moving into the 432-bed minimum security Correctional Alternative Placement Program in July. The prison…
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Wendy Olson as Idaho's new U.S. Attorney, replacing current U.S. Attorney Tom Moss, who has served since 2001. Olson was recommended by Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick and nominated by the White House in March; her confirmation was applauded today by…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter will host a "Women's Day in the Capitol" tomorrow, featuring an array of female state officials in an open forum from 4-7 p.m. and guided tours of the state Capitol. "Women's Day in the Capitol is actually Capitol for a Day…
The Kootenai County Democratic Central Committee issued a press release today calling on Idaho elected officials to say where they stand on Rep. Phil Hart's tax woes, which are the subject of pending House ethics committee; the committee will look into whether Hart had a…
KTVB-TV, in a special "Viewpoint" program entitled "Plagiarism in Politics" that aired yesterday, did extensive analysis on unsuccessful GOP congressional candidate Vaughn Ward's January announcement speech and reached a startling conclusion - the whole speech was plagiarized, not just the final paragraph in which Ward…
Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart on Friday defended his long tax fight against the IRS and the state Tax Commission, and said he looks forward to going before a House ethics committee. "I would welcome the opportunity to tell my story," said Hart, R-Athol, a…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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