Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the public school budget set today in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee; the budget still must pass both the House and Senate and receive the governor's signature to become law, but budget bills rarely change once…
Two-term Rep. Brian Cronin, D-Boise, has announced that he won't seek re-election, citing "strains" on his professional and family life, "pressures that I simply can no longer ignore." Click below for Cronin's full statement. He said, "I remain committed to the concept of public service,…
The Senate Education Committee has voted 5-4 in favor of HB 481, Rep. Bob Nonini's House-passed bill to lift Idaho's caps on creation of new charter schools - both the six-per-year statewide limit and the one-per-school-district limit. Backers said removing the caps would make Idaho…
GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul drew a crowd of 1,200 supporters to a noon rally at the Bonner County Fairgrounds in Sandpoint today, the AP reports, a crowd the campaign called "massive;" this AP photo shows Paul addressing the crowd. The Boise Weekly has a…
Two-term state Sen. Melinda Smyser, R-Parma, has announced that she won't run for re-election. "Because of my friendship with and respect for Senator Patti Anne Lodge, I will not run for re-election to the new District 11 Senate seat," Smyser said in a statement. "Redistricting…
Matt Kaiserman was a BSU Broncos special teams player in the Dec. 22, 2010 Maaco Bowl game in Las Vegas when he was on the receiving end of a hit from a University of Utah player that broke his face mask, sent his helmet flying…
HCR 48, congratulating the Idaho Education Association on the 120th anniversary of its founding, has passed the House on a voice vote - but with lots of loud "nay" votes. No one debated against the resolution, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, and…
Longtime state official Darrell Manning was honored on his retirement today with passage of HCR 46 in the House, "honoring and commending" him for his service to the state. The resolution was co-sponsored by Reps. Max Black, R-Boise; Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian; and Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum,…
The House has voted 66-3 in favor of HB 495, legislation co-sponsored by Reps. John Vander Woude, R-Nampa, and Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, to bar the state endowment from owning businesses as part of its assets; the endowment benefits public schools. "Two years ago the Land…
The House has voted 55-13 in favor of HB 595, the new version of the $10 fee bill on offenders to fund a crime victim notification service called VINE, which stands for Victim Information and Notification Everyday. The service notifies victims if the offender is…
The budget for Idaho's Department of Corrections for next year cleared the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on a series of mostly unanimous votes today, but there was one exception: The budget for private prisons. That division will rise to $29.8 million next year, all in state…
Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, asked to return HB 449, an Idaho State Police bill imposing new fees on drug offenders, to the Senate Judiciary Committee today, saying the bill's authors and sponsors have discovered problems with the measure as drafted; it was on the Senate's…
The Senate has voted unanimously, 35-0, in favor of HB 489, legislation to remove a little-known sales and use tax from the free sips of wine given away at wine tastings, or other free beverages like apple cider samples given out at farmers' markets. Senate…
Legislation to let resort-city inns get special, non-transferable liquor licenses with the approval of their local city councils came in for heavy opposition in the House today, before being killed on a lopsided 26-43 vote. First, Rep. Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, told of a…
Today is the transmittal deadline for most bills to be moved from one house to the other, Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis announced this morning, so the Senate has suspended its rules to take up SB 1371, a measure from the Idaho Secretary of State's…
Idaho state schools Superintendent Tom Luna is praising the budget set by JFAC today for public schools. "I think the outlook is very bright, especially when you consider some of the doomsday scenarios," he told reporters. The budget for schools for next year shows a…
In the final two divisions of the public school budget, the facilities division and educational services for the deaf and blind, the Democratic and Republican budget plans were identical; both passed on unanimous votes after being proposed by Democratic JFAC members. The deaf and blind…
In the division of the public school budget dubbed "children's programs," JFAC has set a budget that includes one-time funding for the Idaho Digital Learning Academy for next year of $4 million, in addition to the $1.1 million IDLA would get under a funding formula;…
In the next division of the public school budget, the operations division, Democrats on JFAC sought to shift $2.5 million to discretionary funding for school districts, and just fund a $2.5 million request for new information technology staffers on a one-time basis from a dedicated…
The overall budget proposal for public schools for next year crafted by majority Republicans on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee would mean a 4.6 percent increase in state general funds, to $1.28 billion, but a total-funds increase of just 0.4 percent, to $1.566 billion. The competing…
Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, arguing against the Democratic proposal in JFAC to unfreeze a year of the two years of experience-level pay increases that lawmakers have frozen in the past for school teachers and administrators, said doing that "for one particular group would be a…
State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna told legislative budget writers that neither teacher-pay proposal being debated this morning - a boost in the minimum teacher salary, or unfreezing a year of experience that lawmakers previously froze on the teacher salary grid - would address the…
The public schools budget, the single largest slice of Idaho's state budget, is set in six individual pieces. The first up this morning is the Division of Administrators. Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, proposed a motion with no line items added that reflects a 5.5…
As the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee gathered for its early-morning work session today on two big budgets - public schools and corrections - the usual crew of committee members, staffers and reporters were joined by two lobbyists, Skip Smyser and Jason Kreizenbeck, who represent Corrections Corp.…
I wasn't there on Thursday, but everyone I've talked to who skied at Bogus Basin says it was the best day of the season - a long-awaited true midwinter powder day, complete with bottomless, light powder and face shots. Fast-forward to Sunday, when I was…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
