There's quite a debate tonight on Idaho Reports on public school funding, between state Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna; Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley; Sherri Wood, president of the Idaho Education Association; Karen Echeverria, head of the Idaho School Boards Association; and Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum,…
Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, will hold a town hall meeting on Sunday on immigration, along with University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor Kris Kobach, who worked with Jorgenson to draft sweeping legislation aimed at punishing Idaho employers who knowingly employ undocumented immigrants, along with…
Gov. Butch Otter is again criticizing newspaper coverage, this time going after editorial writers at the Lewiston Tribune and Idaho Falls Post Register in a guest opinion co-authored with Senate President Pro-Tem Bob Geddes and House Speaker Lawerence Denney. In the opinion, the three write…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho has missed its tax revenue forecasts by a combined $41 million since December. House GOP leaders Mike Moyle, R-Star, and Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, confirmed that revenue fell more than $15 million short…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how a squabble between North Idaho lawmakers in JFAC this morning nearly killed a highway bonding plan. Half of North Idaho's delegation fought for full funding for a U.S. Highway 95 construction project next year,…
HB 616, sponsored by Reps. Mike Moyle, R-Star, and Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, to limit local improvement districts from undertaking big projects without a vote or a petition from property owners has passed the House on a 42-23 vote. Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, said his…
Sen. Jim Hammond's substitute motion on GARVEE bonding, for $12 million but with priority going to construction, was voted down 8-12; then, a motion was voted on from Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, for $12 million but with priority going first to right-of-way - with…
Two more motions pending on GARVEE bonding now, both for $12 million, with differing strings attached...
The original motion on GARVEE bonding, from Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, also has been killed on a 10-10 tied vote.
Rep. Frank Henderson's substitute motion on a lower amount for GARVEE bonding has died on a tied, 10-10 vote.
Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, said his lower GARVEE bonding motion "doesn't delay a thing" on the Garwood-to-Sagle project, because $24 million authorized last year for both right-of-way acquisition and construction on the project remains unspent, awaiting completion of an environmental assessment. "If they can…
There are two competing motions on GARVEE bonding: One from Sens. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, and Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, for $26 million, matching the governor's recommendation; and one from Reps. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, and George Eskridge, R-Dover, for less than half as much, $11…
JFAC is now debating the transportation budget, which includes no state general funds, relying largely on federal funds and revenues from state gas taxes and vehicle registration fees. Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, questioned some trims in the budget. Responded Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, "We're…
State Corrections Director Brent Reinke says the budget set for corrections by JFAC this morning will be "very challenging." He said, "The funds are not there, and so we have to be as creative as we can be and yet keep our staff safe and…
The first divided vote among the divisions of the prison budget came on community corrections, on which Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, said she's concerned that an 8.3 percent cut in state general funds for the division could result in inadequate supervision of offenders on probation…
So far, the votes in JFAC this morning on the various pieces of the prison budget all have been unanimous. The Corrections Department budget is divided up into nine different divisions, but overall, the budget plan crafted by legislative budget writers would trim general funds…
Former longtime Bonners Ferry mayor and city councilman Darrel Kerby is substituting for Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, today, as Keough is with her husband Mike, who is hospitalized at Kootenai Medical Center and facing major open-heart surgery on Monday. "Sen. Keough is with her husband,…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
