On this, the 75th legislative day of the session, it's taken me forever to get a chance to pen my next legislative limerick, but with all apologies, here it is: On Day 75... It should've ended today But politics got in the way Bombast or…
On tonight's "Idaho Reports," I join Jim Weatherby, Kevin Richert, and host Greg Hahn to discuss the legislative developments of the week, from ethics to ultrasound. One thing we don't get to, as time runs out: A chance for Dr. Weatherby to say, “I told…
Things have been quiet on the ultrasound front yesterday and today after Wednesday's tumult, with no House hearing scheduled on the controversial Senate-passed bill to require Idaho women who want an abortion to first undergo an ultrasound, but talk in the halls of the Statehouse…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter signed the bill restricting local control over the natural gas industry, putting the finishing touches to a measure that launched the Senate's ethics investigation into Sen. Monty Pearce. The…
Without comment, Gov. Butch Otter has signed HB 481, lifting all caps on creation of new charter schools in Idaho, into law. Currently, Idaho limits the creation of new charter schools to six per year and one per school district; both limits are removed under…
An an analysis, AP reporter John Miller writes that this week's ethics proceedings in the Idaho Senate underscored natural tensions built into Idaho's citizen Legislature, in which people with unrelated occupations come together for lawmaking - which often affects their lines of work. Largely lost…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― The state Board of Education is opposing efforts to lower Idaho's cap on annual general fund spending to 5.3 percent of total personal income. Trustees voted 5-1 on Friday to testify against the…
Legislation to ban texting while driving is headed to the governor's desk, after the Senate today approved SB 1274a, as amended in the House, on a 29-5 vote. The House added amendments to remove an exemption for law enforcement or emergency vehicles, and to specify…
The House has adjourned until Monday, after a thundering debate from Rep. Carlos Bilbao, R-Emmett, in favor of SJM 104, a non-binding memorial opposing the Obama Administration's contraceptive coverage rule. The memorial was approved on a 51-16 vote, with all the House's Democrats and three…
When SB 1243a first passed the Senate on Feb. 3, it would have limited future specialty license plates to those benefiting government purposes. The bill was twice amended in the House, and today the Senate passed the amended version and sent it to the governor's…
The Idaho Senate has voted 26-9 in favor of HB 619a, which removes from Idaho cities the ability to set local speed limits where state highways pass through town. The bill, now headed to Gov. Butch Otter's desk, reverses legislation passed several years ago to…
The House got into an extended debate today over SB 1399, the appropriation bill for the Permanent Building Fund, because it includes the next, $1.5 million stage of improvements to the Capitol Annex, the now-vacant old Ada County Courthouse across from the state Capitol. Rep.…
After approving a resolution honoring the late jazz singer Mildred Rinker Bailey, a Coeur d'Alene Indian, the Senate went at ease, and a bit of her music was played: Bailey singing “Thanks for the memories,” one of her biggest hits. Bailey was a pioneering singing…
The Idaho House has voted 63-4 to let school districts, for a fourth straight year, shift funds that the state requires districts to put toward school building maintenance into other non-personnel needs in the district. Rep. Mack Shirley, R-Rexburg, said the state budget for public…
With no debate, the House has voted 55-12 in favor of HB 689, to shift the state's food stamp distribution from a single distribution to all recipients on the 1st of the month, to a staggered distribution over several days. Rep. Christy Perry, R-Nampa, the…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― A Boise Democrat who has been one of the minority party's major voices on the House Revenue and Taxation Committee plans to retire from the Idaho Legislature. Rep. Bill Killen had originally filed…
The Senate State Affairs Committee easily approved a resolution this morning to build a new multi-level state parking garage, using savings from refinancing of several existing state bonds at lower interest rates; the House-passed measure now moves to the full Senate. “It's an opportunity to…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
