Among old TV show titles that could describe this year’s Idaho legislative elections: “All in the Family” and “Family Ties.” That’s because at least four candidates running for the Legislature are close relatives of current or former state lawmakers. That’s not counting the two serving...
In a recent newsletter to constituents, Senate Assistant Majority Leader Chuck Winder, R-Boise, included an item about the permitless concealed carry bill, which he supports. Winder wrote that two years ago, lawmakers heard similar arguments in support of legislation to allow concealed guns on public…
With lawmakers still on the loose/Lots of ideas have got juice/From Sharia slams/To plastic-bag bans/Time to leave this place to the goose?
Before breaking for lunch today, the House moved up one more resolution: SCR 148, honoring Hecla Mining Co. on its 125th anniversary. Rep. Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer, spoke out against the resolution, saying, “The behavior of the Hecla Mining Co. has had a disastrous impact.” She...
There was lively debate in the House on SCR 134, the resolution endorsing the state Board of Education’s goal to have 60 percent of Idahoans age 25-34 have a post-secondary degree or certificate by 2020 to meet the state’s workforce needs. Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise,…
The Senate has voted 27-8 in favor of SB 1389, which allows Idahoans 21 or older to carry concealed guns without a permit inside city limits. “The Idaho Constitution does give us the right to regulate concealed carry, and we certainly still do that,” said…
The House has passed SB 1391, the Medicaid budget for next year, on a close 39-30 vote, after House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, spoke out against it, saying Idaho is failing its citizens by not providing health coverage to 78,000 people who fall into…
Things are pretty chaotic on the House side of the rotunda today. The House Education Committee had a motion on the floor and was about to vote on Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll’s Bible-in-schools bill when House Assistant Majority Leader Brent Crane, R-Nampa, pulled them out to…
House Democrats just made a stand on the floor of the House, attempting to call HB 400, the bill to raise the minimum wage, out of the House Ways & Means Committee, the leadership-dominated panel where it’s been sent to die without a hearing. The…
The House State Affairs Committee ran out of time this morning and adjourned without a vote on the anti-Sharia law bill; Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, said they'll be back tomorrow morning.
In testimony this morning on HB 568, the anti-Sharia and foreign law bill: A.J. Ellis of Marsing, who said he’s an evangelical Christian, said, “This bill is a terrible idea for a number of reasons.” He said he was born in Idaho, but has friends...
Rep. Eric Redman, R-Athol, is presenting his anti-Sharia law bill, HB 568, in the House State Affairs Committee in a full hearing today. “As all of you, I was elected to represent my citizens in my district,” he said. “We’re talking about foreign laws, but...
JFAC has voted 13-4 in favor of setting aside $34.5 million in next year’s budget against the cost of catastrophic wildfires; it’s the three-year average of what the state’s costs have been. “We’re buying fire insurance here, I guess,” said JFAC Co-Chair Rep. Maxine Bell,…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has approved a $2 million transfer to the new STEM Education Fund for projects of the STEM Action Center next year; Gov. Butch Otter had recommended $10 million, but with just $2 million in spending authority for next year. The money…
More appropriations approved by the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning: * On a unanimous vote, the joint committee approved $180,000 in funding for the Idaho Commission for Libraries, in accordance with SB 1334, legislation about broadband funding for schools and libraries. The money is for…
JFAC has voted unanimously, 19-0, to pay the winning side’s legal bills for the Syringa Networks lawsuit over the Idaho Education Network, which the state lost. Those court-ordered fees are $930,593. Also included in the JFAC funding motion, which allocates state general funds to the…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has voted 17-1, with just Rep. Phylis King, D-Boise, dissenting, to deposit another $2 million in state general funds into the Constitutional Defense Fund, which largely covers attorney fee awards for the winning side when the state loses lawsuits, as directed...
JFAC has reconvened this morning, with an array of “trailer” funding bills and end-of-session funding decisions on its agenda. “We will meet again on Friday to finish up the education bill,” Co-Chair Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, told the joint committee. First up: Funding for SB…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
