When Idaho eliminated non-emergency adult dental coverage under its Medicaid program in 2011, it hoped to save money, but it didn’t. Instead, emergency room costs ballooned, with dental-related emergency room services more than doubling from $30,000 a month in 2011 to $65,000 a month today.…
GOP Sen. Jim Risch has posted the following statement on his campaign website, in response to the campaign announcement today from Democratic challenger Nels Mitchell: “Senator Risch has been working diligently for over five years to reduce the size of the federal government and its…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Nels Mitchell, who today launched his campaign against GOP Sen. Jim Risch. Mitchell said he’d make jobs his top priority, and pledged if elected to serve only one six-year term. “I…
Former Canyon County Prosecutor John Bujak was indicted by a federal grand jury today on charges of bankruptcy fraud, concealment of assets, making a false statement under oath, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. The charges center around a $25,000 Rolex watch that Bujak allegedly…
Gov. Butch Otter has named Patrick McDonald as the new state representative for District 15, replacing the disgraced Rep. Mark Patterson, R-Boise, who resigned. McDonald, a former U.S. marshal and Idaho State Police officer, will serve the remainder of Patterson's term; he'd previously announced he…
There’s a full house of more than 100 people for today’s first “Politics for Lunch” session sponsored by the Andrus Center at its downtown Boise location; Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis is the featured speaker. His first comment: “Wow. This is a remarkable group of…
Boise attorney Nels Mitchell launched his campaign for the U.S. Senate against Idaho Sen. Jim Risch today, calling Risch an “out of touch” career politician and pledging if elected to serve just one six-year term. “Six years is a long time,” Mitchell said. “I will…
The House Revenue & Taxation Committee has voted 13-2 against a motion to reject the state Tax Commission’s same-sex marriage tax filing rule, with only two Democrats, Reps. Grant Burgoyne and Mat Erpelding of Boise, backing rejection. Democratic Rep. Carolyn Meline of Pocatello voted with…
Half a dozen Idahoans who are in same-sex marriages urged against approval of the Tax Commission’s rule requiring them to re-do their tax returns when they file their state income taxes, so that they file as a married couple for the federal returns, but recalculate…
Legislative budget writers this morning are delving into the details of Health & Welfare programs, starting with the divisions of welfare and Medicaid. Medicaid takes up 80.6 percent of the budget request for the state Department of Health & Welfare for the coming year, down…
As the House Revenue & Taxation Committee opened its hearing this morning on the state Tax Commission’s temporary rule on same-sex married couples’ tax filings, Chairman Gary Collins noted, “This is a hearing on a pending rule, it is not a hearing on same-sex marriage.…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
