The U.S. Justice Department wants a federal judge to toss out Idaho Rep. Phil Hart's arguments that his status as a state legislator should bar IRS claims against him for back taxes. Federal authorities are seeking to foreclose on Hart's Athol, Idaho log home for…
Idaho Statesman columnist Dan Popkey writes about Dan English, the former Kootenai County clerk who's filed as a Democrat to run for the seat now held by Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol. Popkey says English has “an impressive resume for a challenger,” though he's running in…
More than 200 people gathered at a rally on the Statehouse steps today to protest against SB 1349, the bill to require Idaho women to undergo an ultrasound before they can have an abortion. They carried signs with slogans including, “A uterus is not a…
Legislation sponsored by House Health & Welfare Chair Janice McGeachin, R-Idaho Falls, to restore $1.5 million of last year's $35 million in Medicaid cuts has passed the House on a unanimous 65-0 vote. McGeachin told the House that when the original cuts were made, “We…
The Senate is recessing to 4:15, and majority Republicans are headed into a closed-door caucus. Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill said earlier that his party would caucus today to consider tax cuts and ethics reforms.
House Majority Leader Mike Moyle has announced that today, the House will consider just the first bill on its 3rd Reading Calendar, then begin suspending its rules and taking up the House bills on the 2nd Reading Calendar. That would include several appropriations bills, and…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― The state Board of Education is seeking more flexibility in using a fund created in 2006 after Idaho's method of paying for school construction was deemed unconstitutional. The $25 million pool of money…
House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, noted that the House was due on the floor at 10:30 today, and he asked if any of those waiting to testify on HB 578, Rep. Phil Hart's “sound money” bill, could return tomorrow. Most said they could,…
Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, has introduced Larry Hilton, a lawyer who worked on the “Utah Legal Tender Act” that passed last year, declaring gold and silver to be “currency” rather than “assets” under the state's tax code, freeing them from capital gains taxes when exchanged…
Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, is presenting his “sound money” bill, HB 578, to the House State Affairs Committee this morning; he said it was written by Edwin Vieira Jr., a lawyer and author from Virginia. Hart told the committee that a dollar originaly “was equal…
Rep. Brent Crane's motion to send the youth athlete concussion bill, HB 632, to the House's amending order to make various changes he advocates failed on a 15-3 vote; the House State Affairs Committee then voted 15-3 to sent the bill to the full House…
JFAC has voted unanimously, 18-0, to adopt the Joint Millennium Fund Committee's recommendations for spending $5.7 million in millennium funds next year on health and smoking-related programs. The funds come from a nationwide tobacco settlement; part of the settlement is in an endowment that generates…
Former BSU football player Matt Kaiserman, now a lobbyist for the National Football League, is presenting HB 632, on youth athletes' concussions, to the House State Affairs Committee. “There are many who have been negatively affected by concussion,” Kaiserman told the committee. “I can't stress…
Among the state agency budgets being set this morning are some smaller ones, including the Health Education Programs division, which includes programs that send Idaho students to medical school, dental school, optometry and veterinary school in other states since Idaho lacks those schools, and residency…
Idaho Statesman columnist Dan Popkey today reports on how the retirement of eight House veterans, all in their 70s, threatens to silence moderates in that chamber. Rep. Carlos, R-Emmett, told Popkey, "There's no doubt in my mind that the moderates are out of business in…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
