On tonight’s “Idaho Reports” program on Idaho Public Television, I join Jim Weatherby, Dan Popkey, Emilie Ritter Saunders and host Melissa Davlin for a discussion of the legislative events of the week, from today’s lengthy guns-on-campus hearing to Idaho’s image. Also, Davlin and Ritter Saunders…
Andy Grover, superintendent of the Melba School District, announced his candidacy today for state superintendent of schools, joining an already crowded GOP primary race. Idaho Education News reports that Grover’s Statehouse announcement drew a crowd of nearly 100 that included Senate Education Committee Chairman John…
Millions in tax revenue from Idaho's cigarette sales is closer to flowing toward the state's scarred-up highway asphalt and its drought-depleted aquifers, the AP reports, after the House voted 63-4 today to redirect cash from the state's 56 cent-per-pack tax — it has totaled about…
After a more than seven-hour hearing today, the House State Affairs Committee has voted 11-3 in favor of SB 1254, the guns-on-campus bill, sending it to the full House for debate and possible final passage. Close to 50 people testified on the bill today, the…
As the guns-on-campus hearing continues this afternoon, Boise State University President Bob Kustra was among those testifying, speaking strongly against the bill. Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, told Kustra, “Currently the way the Constitution reads, I think open carry is allowed on your campus and currently…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter signed a bill threatening people who secretly film animal abuse at Idaho's agricultural facilities with jail and fines. Otter inked the new law Friday, two days after it cleared…
Kevin Satterlee, vice president and general counsel at Boise State University, was the first called to testify on the guns-on-campus bill after the lunch break. He said Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane’s answer on the question about open carry and the bill was “essentially a…
Idaho Commerce Director Jeff Sayer’s new business incentive legislation cleared the House Revenue & Taxation Committee this morning, with just one “no” vote, from Rep. Lenore Barrett, R-Challis, and now moves to the full House for debate. Patterned after a Utah law, the bill would…
Near the end of this morning’s portion of the guns-on-campus hearing, Rep. Gayle Batt, R-Wilder, asked Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane to respond to a question, and asked him if SB 1254 would allow open carrying of firearms on Idaho public college campuses. Kane said…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The founder of Greek yogurt maker Chobani is asking Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter to veto a bill that jails for up to a year people who secretly film animal abuse at Idaho's agricultural…
House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, said, "We're needed on the floor," and called a recess in today's guns-on-campus hearing. "We will need to come back here at 1 p.m.," he said. "We still have 19 people who are signed up to testify."
More of the testimony from today’s guns-on-campus hearing: Boise Police Chief Mike Masterson presented the House State Affairs Committee with a letter from the Idaho Chiefs of Police opposing SB 1254, the guns on campus bill, and asked the lawmakers not to pass the bill…
In continuing testimony on SB 1254, the guns-on-campus bill this morning: Claude Spinosa, a BSU professor emeritus of geosciences who now lives in Sandpoint, told the committee, “Guns are for killing, and I’ve done my share of killing. … The last thing I want on…
The State Board of Education has sent a letter opposing SB 1254 to all members of the House State Affairs Committee; you can read it here. Among the concerns raised in the letter: “The bill would allow open carry on public campuses anywhere, including open…
In continuing testimony on SB 1254, the guns-on-campus bill today: Tony Fernandez, president of Lewis-Clark State College, said, “The rate of murder and manslaughter on college campuses is 40 times less than that observed in the general population.” Idaho’s college campuses are very safe, he…
An op-ed piece in the New York Times by a BSU professor about SB 1254, the guns-on-campus bill, is drawing attention across the country; it was published yesterday. The article by Greg Hampikian is entitled, “When May I Shoot a Student?” In it, Hampikian, tongue…
In continuing testimony on SB 1254, the guns-on-campus bill, this morning: Cassie Sullivan, vice president of the BSU Associated Students, said students oppose the bill; she delivered petitions with 2,500 signatures against it. “Every constituent that this affects has spoken to you and said that…
In testimony at the guns-on-campus hearing this morning, the first called to testify was BSU student Kelby Monks, a criminal justice major and the son of Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian. He spoke in favor of the bill, SB 1254, saying, “I would rather sacrifice myself…
The hearing on SB 1254, the guns on campus bill, has opened in the Lincoln Auditorium this morning before the House State Affairs Committee. This time, the bill's sponsor, Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, is presenting his bill himself; at the earlier Senate committee hearing, he…
The Idaho Senate has voted unanimously in favor of the justice reinvestment bill, sending it to the House side. The 35-0 vote on SB 1357 followed enthusiastic debate in favor of the measure, which would invest in reforms to the state’s probation and parole system…
Forty-six "Add the Words" protesters, including one juvenile, one man in a wheelchair, and three others who use walkers or other assistive devices to get around, were arrested this afternoon after blockading the Senate garden-level hallway that leads to all Senate committee hearing rooms, closing…
Arrests of "Add the Words" protesters are under way in the Senate garden level hallway. Idaho State Police troopers are leading the protesters quietly, in small groups, to a ground-floor Capitol visitors room for processing, as they did during the last protest that resulted in…
Two Senate committee meetings that had been scheduled for 1:30 today have been canceled, the Commerce Committee meeting and the Transportation Committee meeting. Both had started to assemble in House committee hearing rooms because their regular Senate meeting rooms were blocked by an "Add the…
The Senate Commerce Committee has temporarily relocated to room EW 20, and the Senate Transportation Committee to Room EW 40, but neither meeting has been called to order. Among the reasons: The chairmen of both panels are blockaded in their offices by "Add the Words"…
“Add the Words” protesters are blockading the Senate garden-level hallway where committee hearing rooms are located, blocking access at both ends plus standing outside the hearing rooms themselves. Senators, lobbyists, and people waiting to attend afternoon committee hearings – including citizen activists hoping to testify…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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