Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how Idaho lawmakers adjourned their legislative session today after 88 days, running nearly a week longer than planned amid a deadlock in the Senate over the budget for public schools. In the end, the budget…
Gov. Butch Otter has allowed a bill to become law without his signature, saying he’s concerned that it’ll reduce collections by the state Tax Commission by as much as $5 million in the first year it’s in effect. The bill, SB 1047a, limits the Tax…
The governor's education stakeholders task force has scheduled a series of seven community meetings across the state this month, including sessions in Nampa, Twin Falls, Lewiston, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Boise; click below for the full list, including times and locations. "This is…
Gov. Butch Otter and GOP legislative leaders announced today that they'll work together over the interim on gun-rights legislation, after several bills were proposed this session but didn't pass both houses. “Some ideas percolated in the Legislature this year but never got fully vetted," Otter…
It's more than a year before the primary election, but Idaho Sen. Jim Risch announced today that he'll seek re-election in 2014. "When I ran for this office just over four years ago, I said our country was facing many challenges," Risch said in a…
There's now a second egg in the nesting box high atop a downtown Boise building where a family of peregrine falcons makes its home; you can see it live here. Experts with the Peregrine Fund expect a third egg to follow on Saturday...
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter today gave this year's legislative session high marks, saying, "What they produced was impressive and consistent with my priorities and our shared commitment to responsible, accountable and limited government. We also have a path forward on several key issues and a…
House and Senate Democrats sounded a positive note in their post-session press conference this afternoon, saying their majority Republican colleagues were more willing to work with them this year. “We hold it as a sacred duty to listen to all of our constituents regardless of…
Gov. Butch Otter today sent two transmittal letters to lawmakers, noting bills that he had signed into law, but with caveats. They included HB 315, the personal property tax relief bill, which exempts the first $100,000 in business equipment from the tax in each county,…
Once the House had adjourned, Speaker Scott Bedke invited everyone – including Gov. Butch Otter, the press, staffers and others – to a cake reception in the speakers’ office, and representatives, family members and others filled the hallways, talking and enjoying their cake. Bedke told…
The House has adjourned sine die, ending this year's legislative session. The official time was 11:31 a.m. "We look forward to meeting with you again next year," said Majority Leader Mike Moyle.
The House has voted 47-21 in favor of SB 1040a, the bill to let school districts reduce teachers’ salaries from one year to the next and make other changes in teacher contract laws; all 12 House Democrats present joined nine House Republicans in opposing the…
The House is continuing to debate SB 1040a, the bill to let school districts cut teacher pay from one year to the next and make other changes to teacher contract law. “This bill comes substantially out of Proposition 1,” Rep. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, told the…
The Senate has now adjourned sine die, ending its session. The House is still going, debating SB 1040a, a teacher contracts bill.
The Senate is sending committees to notify the House and the governor that it’s prepared to adjourn sine die. Meanwhile, the House is locked in debate on SB 1040a, a bill that lets school districts cut teacher pay from one year to the next and…
The House has voted 57-11 in favor of SB 1200, the public school budget bill; most of the opponents were Republicans. Now, the House is moving on to SB 1040a, on which there's been an objection on procedural grounds from House Minority Leader John Rusche,…
The Senate has passed its final bill, HB 345 regarding year-end transfers, on a unanimous, 34-0 vote, and is now preparing to adjourn for the session.
Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Idaho Falls, told the House he’s presenting the “going-home bill.” It’s SB 1200, the budget for public schools. The school budget earlier passed the House easily, but it was defeated by one vote in the Senate; the new version followed a different…
The House is also back in session; it has just two bills left, the public school budget, SB 1200, and SB 1040a, an Idaho School Boards Association bill that lets school districts lower teacher pay from one year to the next.
The Senate is back in session; it has just one bill left, the year-end transfer bill that JFAC approved yesterday and the House already passed earlier this morning. It transfers any surplus beyond $20 million into the budget stabilization fund; it was requested by the…
House members are filtering back in to the chamber after their caucus; next up will be SB 1200, the public schools budget. The House has only one other bill left, SB 1040a.
The Senate has passed SB 319 on a unanimous, 34-0 vote. That bill allows school districts coping with limited budgets to shift up to two-thirds of their required school building maintenance match to other purposes, under certain circumstances. That bill also now moves to the…
The Senate has voted 29-5 in favor of SB 1200, the new version of the public school budget. There was little debate. “It’s not a perfect budget, but it is a collaborative budget … to do what’s best for our schools, our teachers, and our…
House Appropriations Chair Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, told the House that HB 345 would transfer any year-end surplus beyond $20 million to the budget stabilization fund. “This is a year-end surplus eliminator,” Bell said. “It is going to take a lot of faith on our part,…
Both the House and the Senate are in session this morning for their final day of this year’s legislative session, the 88thday. First up in the Senate is suspension of rules to consider SB 1200, the new version of the public school budget. The House…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
