Idaho's current right-to-farm law protects existing farm operations when subdivisions or other development encroaches; now lawmakers are considering legislation to expand the law to protect agricultural operations' rights to expand, even if they impact surrounding neighbors. The bill, HB 210, could come up for a…
Idaho would expand the number of its felons whose DNA samples will be collected and added to a statewide index, under SB 1067, a bill that cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee today. Click below for a full report from AP reporter Mitchell Schmidt. Greg Hampikian,…
At the teachers' rally in Capitol Park this evening, Rep. Brian Cronin, D-Boise, talked about "what was marketed as a school reform plan," saying, "We know the plan is nothing more than a fiscal crisis plan and a retribution for teachers plan." Cronin said, "We're…
Hundreds of teachers and their supporters are ringing the state Capitol, many with red scarves tied across their mouths to signify their voices being silenced, in protest over the passage yesterday of SB 1108 and today's passage of SB 1110, the first two bills in…
Eight years ago next Tuesday, the 23-year-old son of a state senator was shot to death at a Boise State University keg party, after the young man reportedly threw beer on another party-goer, a 21-year-old fellow student. That student responded by pulling a handgun and…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Legislation to require Idaho's public libraries to block offensive content on computers, such as pornography, is moving through the state Legislature. The House Education Committee passed the measure Wednesday. It now goes to…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on today's House passage of SB 1110 on teacher merit pay, the second bill in state schools Supt. Tom Luna's three-bill school reform package. The first bill, SB 1108 on teacher contracts, passed yesterday, while the…
Here's how House members voted on SB 1110, the teacher merit pay bill, which passed on a 44-26 vote; all 13 House Democrats opposed the measure, as did 13 Republicans: Voting in favor: Reps. Anderson, Barbieri, Barrett, Bateman, Bayer, Bedke, Black, Block, Boyle, Chadderdon, Collins,…
Thirteen Republicans joined all 13 House Democrats in opposing SB 1110, which passed on a 44-26 vote and now goes to the governor's desk. Among the GOP opponents: House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, and JFAC Co-Chair Maxine Bell, R-Jerome. Bell said, "Every single statutory…
The House has voted 44-26 in favor of SB 1110, the teacher pay-for-performance bill; having already passed the Senate, the bill now moves to the desk of Gov. Butch Otter, who cosponsored the measure and has indicated he'll sign it into law. The bill is…
Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, in his closing debate, called SB 1110 "another tough issue." The House debated it for two and a half hours. He said the bill will "foster collaboration in schools as teachers ... work together to try to raise student achievement."…
Acting Rep. Sarah Bedke, R-Oakley, filling in for injured husband Scott Bedke, told the House, "My husband is and has been a champion for education reform for the past decade. ... He has supported efforts to raise academic standards for students and raise accountability for…
Rep. Reed DeMordaunt, R-Eagle, told the House he chaired a committee sponsored by the Albertson Foundation that researched pay for performance systems around the United States. Studies showed they helped students improve, he said. DeMordaunt said in his view, SB 1110 would "put something in…
Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, told the House, "We have two choices: We can either reform our current educational system or we can accept the status quo. I want to be able to tell my children or my grandchildren that I did my very best to…
House Majority Leader Mike Moyle just acknowledged students from a government class at Eagle High School, who are in the gallery, watching the debate on the teacher merit pay bill.
Rep. Janice McGeachin, R-Idaho Falls, spoke out against SB 1110. "When you put all of the plan together, all three bills, then this may work," she said. "My concern with this bill is the numbers and the finances just don't shake out." She said, "I've…
Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, told the House, "I don't have any particular heartburn with alternative methods of pay." But she said Idaho in the past has promised pay programs like this one - including a career-ladder program in 1980, when she was teaching, and a…
Rep. Elfreda Higgins, D-Garden City, asked whether there is any data showing that the teacher merit pay bill would improve student performance. Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, said no, but said it's "my belief" that rewarding outstanding teachers will attract and retain them and thereby…
"Pay for the performance will reward excellence in the classroom," Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, told the House, opening debate on SB 1110, the teacher merit pay bill. Noting that the bill's first-year cost is $38 million and no funding source is identified, Nonini bristled…
The House has now taken up SB 1110, the teacher merit pay bill, and in a surprise, the House Democrats didn't object to waiving the full reading of the bill. Now, Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, is opening the debate.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has voted 17-3 in favor of the ITD board's recommendation for GARVEE bonding for next year, which the transportation board says will be its last such request. The bonding plan totals $162 million, and is all for construction - $79.4 million…
Sarah Bedke, wife of injured House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, has taken a seat in the House as the temporary substitute for her husband, while he recovers from a farming accident in which he was hit by a 1-ton bale of hay, and…
The House State Affairs Committee has run out of time in its guns-on-campus hearing, and has to get to the House floor for the debate on the teacher merit pay bill, so Chairman Tom Loertscher has continued the hearing until tomorrow morning at 7:45 a.m.
Boise Police Department Lt. Tony Plott told the House State Affairs Committee the department opposes HB 222, the campus guns bill. He said he's a lifetime NRA member, the father of three college-age daughters, and a second-generation law enforcement officer. "Conduct that most adults feel…
Acting Rep. Gayle Batt, R-Wilder, asked BSU security chief John Uda if there are signs warning that weapons can't be carried on the campus, and said, "I carried my concealed weapon with me at the last two legislative events that occurred on the BSU campus…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
