On tonight's “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public TV, I join host Greg Hahn, Jim Weatherby, Jessie Bonner and Clark Corbin to discuss the events of the week, and Greg interviews Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, and Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, about the state budget. The show…
Idaho First Lady Lori Otter, a former teacher, has sent out an op-ed piece in favor of the "Students Come First" school reform plan being pushed by her husband, Gov. Butch Otter, and state schools Supt. Tom Luna. "As a former teacher, I am excited…
Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, is inviting the public to a "Bipartisan Citizens Forum At the Statehouse, For Responsible Government," scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday in the Capitol Auditorium, in the lower level of the state capitol. The forum will include presentations…
Seventeen rallies will be held across the state Saturday to "tell legislators why Medicaid matters," with families and businesses gathering to discuss the impact of proposed cuts to the program on people with disabilities, their families, businesses and communities. The rallies will include on on…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on today's JFAC decision on a budget target for next year - one that would force $57 million more in cuts than already recommended by Gov. Butch Otter.
The Idaho Democratic Party has issued a statement criticizing GOP state lawmakers for "being anti-healthcare reform, anti-assisted suicide, anti-education funding, anti-urban renewal, anti-labor, and the list goes on," but not enacting jobs legislation. “Republican leaders’ idea of addressing jobs is by suggesting thousands of jobs…
The Senate Transportation Committee yesterday, after two days of hearings, killed SB 1072, Sen. Diane Bilyeu's proposal to require bicycle helmets for children 12 and younger when they ride on public roads. The measure was killed on a party-line vote, with only Bilyeu, D-Pocatello, and…
Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, said of JFAC's newly set budget target for next year: "I think that it's artificially low, and it forces us into making cuts to programs which are substantial. There are certain agencies that absolutely can't sustain those cuts." Sen. Shawn Keough,…
JFAC has voted 15-4, along party lines with the panel's four Democrats objecting, to approve a budget target that calls for an additional $56.73 million in budget cuts beyond those already recommended by Gov. Butch Otter. JFAC Co-Chair Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, said even though the…
Legislative budget director Cathy Holland-Smith has laid out the current assumptions about state revenue for the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. State tax revenues for fy 2011 are actually tracking now at 4.8 percent, above the current administration estimate of 4.2 percent. But the committee's assumptions don't…
The Idaho Transportation Department yesterday issued a permit for the second ConcocoPhillips megaload to travel on U.S. Highway 12 in north-central Idaho, and this morning, ITD reports that the load began moving last night and "arrived safely today at a pullout two miles west of…
This morning, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee is handling supplemental appropriations for the current year, some of which are fairly minor, like shifts of a small amount of money from one spending category to another within an agency. Some of the more substantive requests have been…
The Senate State Affairs Committee has introduced legislation this morning, at the request of Sen. Shirley McKague, R-Meridian, to ban all public-sector collective bargaining in Idaho, but McKague said she planned only to introduce the bill this year, not move forward with it. "It'll be…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
