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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

A brief flurry of vain hope…

Boxes are stacked in the hallway in the Garden Level of the state capitol, but a brief flurry of hope Thursday that the legislative session could be wrapped up by Friday was dashed by the end of the day, with both House and Senate leaders conceding they'll likely be back on Monday. (Betsy Russell)
Boxes are stacked in the hallway in the Garden Level of the state capitol, but a brief flurry of hope Thursday that the legislative session could be wrapped up by Friday was dashed by the end of the day, with both House and Senate leaders conceding they'll likely be back on Monday. (Betsy Russell)

There was a brief flurry of hope today that the legislative session actually would end tomorrow - Senate Republicans emerged from a caucus saying they thought they could get it done, and since then have been hard at work on the floor, passing dozens of bills. But now, both sides are acknowledging it's unlikely, especially after the House took a break for a Resources Committee meeting only to wait around for hours, then adjourn for the night, while amendments are crafted for an aquifer management funding bill. Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, told the Senate, "The wheels have kind of fallen off in a couple of areas."

House Speaker Lawerence Denney said, "I think we still have, as I count 'em, 40-some bills to do, and some of those, about 20 of 'em, have not been printed yet, they're budget bills." The House is scheduled to start at 8:30 tomorrow morning, and Denney said, "I think we're going to probably go until 3 tomorrow." That way, he said, people from North Idaho can catch their flights home. He estimated a "probably 50-50 chance" that the session's work would all be done by then. "Forty bills is a lot to do in that amount of time, and I expect that there will be debate on some of them," he said. "We're probably looking at Monday."



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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