On tonight's "Idaho Reports," I join Jim Weatherby, Melissa Davlin and host Greg Hahn to discuss the legislative developments of the week, from contraception and abortion to tax cuts and elections. The program also includes Hahn's interview with retiring Reps. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, and Wendy…
Gov. Butch Otter has named a new head for his Office of Drug Policy: Elisha Figueroa, who now is project director for the Mayor's Anti-Drug Coalition for the City of Meridian. Click below for Otter's full announcement.
HB 464, the controversial oil and gas development bill that limits local county authority over well siting, has passed the Senate Resources Committee on a 6-3 vote after a hearing that stretched for more than three hours, and after a substitute motion to send the…
The House has adjourned until Monday; House Republicans headed into a closed-door caucus for half an hour. Afterward, House Majority Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, said the discussion focused mostly on the public school budget, which will be set in JFAC on Monday. Not taken…
The Senate has adjourned until Monday, after Majority Leader Bart Davis offered a tribute to Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, who announced today that he'll retire after his current term; Darrington's 30-year tenure in the Senate makes him Idaho's longest-serving state senator. Davis said he's served…
At the request of House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, the House has just agreed by unanimous consent to hold HB 561, Rep. Erik Simpson's bill for a two-year moratorium on wind farm development until March 12th; it previously had been on hold until Monday. The…
The House has endorsed amendments to SB 1274, the bill to outlaw texting while driving, to remove an exemption in the bill for law-enforcement or emergency vehicles. "There was no reason to have that exemption at all," said Rep. Rich Wills, R-Glenns Ferry, a retired…
The Senate has welcomed it's newest member, Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell, this morning with applause. Rice was appointed by Gov. Butch Otter late yesterday to complete the term of former Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, who resigned last week amid allegations of sexual harassment of a…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The National Football League has made Idaho the latest state where it's promoting new standards to help young athletes avoid concussion-related injuries. The organization is working to transform contact sports' "suck it up"…
A resolution for an interim study committee on wind farms has been introduced unanimously in the Senate State Affairs Committee, with little discussion; Rep. Erik Simpson, R-Idaho Falls, who has a bill pending in the House for a two-year moratorium on wind farm development, said…
The Senate State Affairs Committee has heard stirring testimony this morning on SB 1336, proposed by the Professional Firefighters of Idaho and co-sponsored by committee Chairman Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, and Rep. Cliff Bayer, R-Boise, to have Idaho join the more than 30 states whose…
In a series of unanimous votes, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has set a budget for the Idaho Transportation Department for next year that's down 5.5 percent in total funds from this year, mainly due to a 13.9 percent drop in federal funds; those funds were…
The Senate State Affairs Committee has voted along party lines to introduce a new bill this morning aimed at re-enacting legislation passed last year to restrict project labor agreements, after that law was overturned by a federal court as a violation of the National Labor…
Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, who in his 30th year in the Senate is the longest-serving senator in Idaho history, has announced that he won't seek re-election. "I would like to thank my constituents who have so generously supported me in the State Senate," Darrington said…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has set a budget for the state Tax Commission for next year that makes permanent 16.5 temporary auditor positions added last year permanent, as part of a multi-year, phased-in plan to add audit staff and close Idaho's "tax gap" - the…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
