On tonight’s “Idaho Reports” program on Idaho Public Television, I join Jim Weatherby, Kevin Richert and hosts Melissa Davlin and Aaron Kunz to discuss the events of the legislative session’s first week, including Idaho political developments. Also, Davlin interviews the co-chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriations…
You can read my full story here at spokesman.com on how Idaho lawmakers on a special legislative committee voted unanimously today to give state workers average 2 percent pay boosts next year, despite Gov. Butch Otter’s recommendation for no funding for raises. The joint legislative…
The Legislature’s special employee compensation committee has voted unanimously, 17-0, in favor of the motion from its co-chair, Rep. Neil Anderson, R-Blackfoot, to fund 2 percent in raises for state employees next year – 1 percent for one-time bonuses, and 1 percent for permanent pay…
Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, said, “This motion may create some expectation that our educators would get something similar, in a percent increase. Do we have a number on what that would mean?” The answer: Each 1 percent in raises for state employees costs the…
Rep. Neil Anderson, R-Blackfoot, has proposed a motion to fund 2 percent in raises for state workers next year: 1 percent of that to be permanent, and 1 percent as a one-time bonus. He also included an additional $99,000 amount to boost pay for those…
The Hay Group study of state employee compensation concluded that the state’s salaries and benefits overall are 29 percent behind the private sector market, and 10 percent behind other states. “The benefits offset some of that impact of the lower salaries but not all,” David…
The Legislature’s joint Change in Employee Compensation Committee has convened in the Lincoln Auditorium; you can watch live here. This afternoon’s agenda includes a presentation on the Office of Performance Evaluations 2013 study of state employee compensation and turnover; a review of the 2013 Hay…
GOP activist and former Senate Majority Leader Rod Beck, R-Boise, tops the list of three nominees to replace former Rep. Mark Patterson, R-Boise, reports Idaho Statesman columnist Dan Popkey. Beck, who served in the Senate in the ‘80s and ‘90s, has clashed with Gov. Butch…
Both the House and the Senate have now adjourned until Monday, with the House wrapping up its brief session early this morning, and the Senate, pictured above (the blur is a young Senate page on the move), finishing just now. One big piece of business…
Enrollment in insurance plans through Idaho’s state-run health care exchange has swelled since the federal government fixed the website that residents use to sign up coverage, the AP reports, with about 20,000 Idahoans enrolling in time for their coverage to begin Jan. 1. That’s up…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Lawmakers aim to honor the longest-serving judge in Idaho history — and husband of one of their own — by recognizing his tenure. The Senate State Affairs Committee Friday introduced the measure to…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning quietly accepted the report of the Legislature’s revenue assessment committee, which yesterday voted unanimously to go along with Gov. Butch Otter’s revenue estimates of $2.80822 billion for the current year, fiscal year 2014, and $2.987767 for the coming year,…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
