Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, vice-chair of the House Ethics Committee, confirmed that the panel was about to send a recommendation to the full House to remove Hart from his committee vice-chairmanship, in response to an ethics complaint, when Hart offered to give up the vice-chairmanship voluntarily. "I think he wore us out," Jaquet said. "I think he apologized, both yesterday and he apologized today. He acknowledged it. ... I felt the remorse was there."

It was the first time Hart had expressed any remorse over his actions to the committee, Jaquet said. "He kept involving his attorney. He could've had that kind of meeting with us in July." Jaquet said a change to the House ethics rules is in the works - but only to clarify the way the rule already had been interpreted by the Idaho Attorney General's office, that it permits an ethics complaint to be filed by"any person" in the body, the House of Representatives - not by any person anywhere. "We really think that refers to any person within the body," Jaquet said. "We're going to change the rule."

Jaquet said of Hart, "Hopefully he'll get some closure. I think we sent him a message - let's move forward, let's get this done."