After the House passed three bills on transportation and taxes today, HB 310, 311 and 312, the Senate has assigned all three to the Senate Transportation Committee – including HB 311, the measure that would eliminate the sales tax on groceries, do away with the…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A plan to help school districts crack down on bullying in Idaho's public schools is on its way to the governor's desk. The Idaho Senate passed the bill 24-10 on Monday. The bill…
After a lengthy hearing that stretched into the evening, the House State Affairs Committee has split, 8-8, on SB 1146a, the bill to legalize a non-psychotropic extract from cannabis to treat Idaho children with an intractable form of epilepsy. The hearing was initially scheduled for…
OK, let’s try this again: Associated Taxpayers of Idaho has released an analysis of HB 311, the sweeping tax bill that passed the House today, and how it affects average Idaho taxpayers. Taking into account the changes in sales, income and gas taxes, ATI found...
Gov. Butch Otter has vetoed his first bill of the 2015 legislative session, taking his red VETO stamp to HB 126, a measure sponsored by Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, to change the way support units are calculated in the school funding formula. “This legislation seeks...
A divided House has voted in favor of two piecemeal transportation funding bills: HB 310 from Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, to shift the $16 million in gas tax fund that now goes to underwrite the Idaho State Police to road work, forcing the state general...
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Senate has killed a plan to make a new process to accredit naturopaths in Idaho. The Senate voted 25-10 Monday to defeat the bill, which had faced substantial changes over the…
The House has voted 53-17 in favor of HB 311, the tax bill sponsored by House GOP leaders that would lower top income tax rates, remove the sales tax from groceries while eliminating the grocery tax credit, and raise the fuel tax by 7 cents…
More from this morning’s House debate on HB 311: House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, was the ninth straight House Democrat to speak out against HB 311, the GOP tax bill. “At its heart, it’s a tax hike for middle-class Idahoans,” he said. “It’s dressed...
From today’s House debate on HB 311, the tax bill, which so far has all come from minority Democrats: Rep. Phylis King, D-Boise, said, “This will be a disastrous tax hike for middle income families. It will also decrease our revenues.” She said the tax…
“It removes the sales tax off of groceries in the state of Idaho,” House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, told the House, opening debate on HB 311. “That’s a big step. ... To help pay for that it removes the grocery tax credit.” He then…
House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, has moved to suspend the rules of the House and take up HB 311, the GOP leadership tax bill, immediately. The motion passed 58-9 with three absent. All the “no” votes came from members of the House’s Democratic minority.…
The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy has released an analysis of the effect of HB 311, the GOP leadership’s tax bill, on Idahoans of various income levels. The conclusion: People in the middle 20 percent, with incomes ranging from $38,900 to $61,000 a year, would...
Both the majority and minority parties in the House have gone into closed-door caucuses, an hour before the House is scheduled to convene and possibly suspend rules and take up a big, GOP leadership-backed tax bill, HB 311. Meanwhile, the Senate is locked in extended…
After a little under an hour, Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, announced that he’d have to cut off this morning’s hearing on SB 1146a, the cannabidiol oil bill, and continue it this afternoon. “We do have a meeting that we are due to right now,” Loertscher…
Lt. Gov. Brad Little has broken a 17-17 tie in the Senate on HB 152a, regarding licensing of sign-language interpreters; Little voted yes, so the bill will go to Gov. Butch Otter’s desk. It earlier passed the House on a 43-22 vote.
Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, told the House State Affairs Committee this morning that he put SB 1146a together “to provide hope to some Idaho families with children suffering from intractable epilepsy.” He told of watching a video of a young child suffering severe, life-threatening seizures....
A roomful of people, some with youngsters in tow, waited more than 35 minutes for the House State Affairs Committee that was scheduled to start at 8:30 this morning; it just now started a bit after 9 a.m. The committee’s agenda includes SB 1146a, allowing…
House Minority Leader John Rusche of Lewiston has asked that Cindy Agidius be removed as communications director for the House Republican Caucus, reporter Bill Spence of the Lewiston Tribune reports, saying she's using the position to “hound” and “spy” on a Democratic caucus member. Rusche…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
