The Senate's tax committee chairman said Monday the only tax cut proposal his panel will likely consider this year is eliminating what remains of Idaho's surcharge on business equipment, the AP reports. Sen. Jeff Siddoway, a Republican from Terreton who heads the Senate Local Government…
Retired state chief economist Mike Ferguson and former state schools superintendents Jerry Evans and Marilyn Howard are giving a presentation on Idaho school funding in the Lincoln Auditorium this evening; you can watch live here (click on “Lincoln Auditorium”). There are lots of school trustees…
The Senate Education Committee has approved HB 504, the bill to grant $15.8 million in “leadership awards” to teachers next year, bonuses that would go to teachers whose local districts deem them deserving, for anything from mentoring other teachers to teaching advanced or dual-credit courses.…
After strong support from sheriffs, prosecutors, the courts and more, and lots of questions from lawmakers, the justice reinvestment bill, SB 1357, has won unanimous support from the Senate Judiciary Committee and is headed to the full Senate. The bill, which grew out of a…
After a long debate, the House has voted 50-17 in favor of HB 480, the bill to trim Idaho cities’ design-review authority. To become law, the bill still needs Senate passage and the governor’s signature; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com. “Markets…
As this busy day in the Statehouse continues, the House is debating HB 480, Rep. Ed Morse’s bill to make all city design-review requirements voluntary, and the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding its full hearing on the justice reinvestment bill, SB 1357.
Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, said the legislative session has seven weeks down and four more to go. “It’s been a less contentious session than I expected, frankly,” he told the Idaho Press Club today. “I thought the state exchange would take a more…
The House has narrowly defeated HB 420, the bill from Rep. Kathy Sims, R-Coeur d’Alene, to grant a new state income tax break to military retirees under age 65. Sims said the tax break, estimated to cost the state general fund $7.8 million next year,…
Asked about the news that Idaho State University President Arthur Vailas says his schools nuclear research program could be threatened if the guns-on-campus bill passes, House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, told the Idaho Press Club today, “I was on the phone, actually, this morning with…
House Speaker Scott Bedke, right, and Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, left, are addressing the Idaho Press Club today. Among the news so far: The leaders are looking at an interim committee to study options for Medicaid expansion in Idaho. Hill said, “I think we’re…
The House has voted 47-20 in favor of HB 456, to raise the rate the state pays counties to house state inmates in county jails from $40 a day to $50. Some House members objected to the sharp increase because of its cost - $2.19…
The Idaho Senate has two bills up for possible reconsideration this morning, SB 1306, which died on a 17-17 tied vote on Friday; and SB 1307, which passed unanimously on Friday. SB 1306 amends commercial drivers’ license rules; if it fails, the state stands to…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has sent out an opinion piece calling for "restoring focus on our legislative priorities," which he identifies as "education, workforce development, economic opportunity, and responsibly fulfilling the other proper roles of government within the people’s means." Writes Otter, "We probably won’t…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has voted 20-0 to funnel $6.6 million in state funds right away to Education Networks of America, the contractor running the state’s Idaho Education Network that provides broadband service to Idaho high schools – but no more, for now. The state…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has voted 20-0 in favor of the recommendation from another joint legislative committee, the Millennium Fund committee, for distributing tobacco settlement proceeds to various health and anti-substance abuse programs next year. Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Idaho Falls, had prepared a motion to…
If you’ve been looking at House committee agendas, you may notice that this afternoon’s House committees that are scheduled to meet both have a contingency on their start times – they’ll meet at 1:30 p.m. “or on adjournment.” What that means: The House is likely…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee is setting budgets this morning, with several pieces of the state Department of Health & Welfare budget up first, for indirect support services, independent councils, licensing and certification and public health services. Three JFAC members, Sens. Dan Schmidt and Sheryl Nuxoll…
Idaho State University could lose its license to conduct nuclear research from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission if a bill to allow concealed weapons on college campuses becomes law, Gov. Butch Otter said Friday, according to the AP and the Idaho State Journal. Otter, in a…
Great skiing up at Bogus Basin this weekend, where the mountain is now in excellent shape, opening up favorite spots that hadn’t been accessible all season until now. Paradise was closed for the weekend for the annual Trudi Bolinder Memorial Super-G race, a USSA qualifier…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
