Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A bill that cuts $35 million from state Medicaid funding is now cruising through the Senate. Republicans on the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on Tuesday sent it to a full chamber vote.…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on today's committee approval of the third school reform bill in state schools Supt. Tom Luna's three-bill package, after the measure was reworked but kept its main parts - phasing in new laptop computers for every…
Senate Education Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, presided over today's committee meeting, but never said much. Afterward, asked about the bill, SB 1184, which he's sponsoring, he said, "I think it made some improvements in 1113 without sacrificing the goal of reform, and this piece…
State schools Supt. Tom Luna said after the Senate Education Committee's vote, "We've addressed the concerns - that's the process." He said, "I wish there was more than the $13 million going for technology, but I understand the fiscal constraints." He said his original bill,…
The Senate Education Committee has voted 6-3 in favor of SB 1184, the school reform bill, which now goes to the full Senate with a recommendation that it "do pass." Those voting in favor of the bill were Sens. Toryanski, Winder, Fulcher, Mortimer, Goedde, and…
So far, Sens. John Andreason, R-Boise, and Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, have spoken of their opposition to the bill, and Sens. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, and Mitch Toryanski, R-Boise, have spoken of their support. Andreason said the main reason he serves in the Senate is because…
Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, said, "Because of our budget circumstances, I believe that there's no way we're not going to have cuts to education." He said the cuts to salary-based apportionment in the bill are not cuts to education, because the money still would…
Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, objected to Otter aide Roger Brown's closing remarks, saying, "This does not appear to save the state any cuts in education." She said basic math shows her that the bill, SB 1184, increases cuts to education, not reduces them. Sen. Chuck…
In his closing comments, Otter aide Roger Brown told the Senate Education Committee, "This is a sacred obligation by the state." He said the Idaho Constitution demands education. "It's very difficult. A lot of passions have been ignited," he said. "Cutting the system is equally…
Laurie Boeckel of the Idaho PTA told the Senate Education Committee, "Idaho PTA ... objects to mandates being determined by the state Board of Education, consists of political appointees ... who are not able to be held accountable by the public." She said, "This legislation…
Sherri Wood, president of the Idaho Education Association, told the Senate Education Committee, "We all know that what Idaho needs is more jobs. SB1184 will mean hundreds and perhaps thousands of lost jobs for Idaho." She said the bill's technology mandates and other funding changes…
Phil Homer, legislative liaison for the Idaho Association of School Administrators, told the Senate Education Committee, "We strongly disagree with the funding mechanism" in SB 1184. "As you might understand, our association was quite surprised," he said, that the "Students Come First" plan would be…
Karen Echeverria, executive director of the Idaho School Boards Association, joked, "This is a warning that by having me testify first, there might be dire consequences. That's not a threat." That was an allusion to news reports over the past two days about an email…
The superintendents and school board chairmen of the state's two largest school districts, Boise and Meridian, have sent a letter to their local lawmakers urging them to oppose SB 1184, because they estimate the districts will lose millions of dollars in state funding under the…
In response to a question from acting Sen. Carole McWilliam about school districts having to pay for online classes that students then fail, Otter aide Roger Brown told the Senate Education Committee that the new bill removes that concern. "The bill before the committee today…
Carole McWilliam is filling in for Sen. Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, this week, as he's gone for a family funeral. She just asked whether the state Department of Education has "baseline data" on how many teachers are not already trained on using technology, how many teachers…
After Otter aide Roger Brown assured the Senate Education Committee that the reform plan doesn't envision replacing teachers with computers, Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, said, "In the bill, there are at least three places where money is taken out of the funds that fund teachers,…
Roger Brown, aide to Gov. Butch Otter, is presenting SB 1184, the new version of state schools Supt. Tom Luna's third school reform bill, to the Senate Education Committee. He said, "Our students must be prepared for life in an online world." The new bill…
Linda Clark, superintendent of the Meridian School District, the state's largest, has submitted a letter to the Senate Education Committee, which won't be taking public testimony today on SB 1184, objecting to the bill. She writes that her district strongly supports "many of the concepts…
The Senate Transportation Committee has approved SB 1179, the bill to limit new specialty license plates to just public agencies or foundations that benefit them, sending it to the full Senate, after much debate. Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, said he sponsored legislation to limit specialty…
The Idaho Indian Affairs Council met at the state Capitol yesterday, and when asked what was up with tribal law enforcement legislation, Helo Hancock of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe said there were "no real new developments with any legislation," since the House narrowly rejected the…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A Senate committee has endorsed changes to the state's "Right to Farm" law that would make it more difficult to file nuisance lawsuits against farmers seeking to expand their operations. The Senate Agricultural…
Rep. Phil Hart's bill to ban any state or local government employee from assisting "in any way" with wolf management or enforcement ran into problems yesterday in the House Resources & Conservation Committee, but the panel agreed, at Hart's request, to send HB 274 to…
U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo's message to the Senate and House today was a somber one: "Right now the United States faces a crisis, a fiscal crisis," he said, saying the national debt is out of control. "You cannot continue as a nation to carry that…
Lawmakers on the House State Affairs Committee had plenty of questions this morning about Rep. Vito Barbieri's bill to set up a separate "Office of Legislative Counsel" to provide legal opinions for the Legislature, sidestepping the state Attorney General's office - and cutting its budget…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
