The House Republican Caucus has re-elected its same leadership team, with two of its members turning back challenges. Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, was re-elected; as were Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star; Assistant Majority Leader Brent Crane, R-Nampa; and Majority Caucus Chairman John VanderWoude, R-Nampa. Crane…
There was change tonight in the Senate Democratic leadership team, as Sen. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, opted not to run again for caucus chair, and Sen. Maryanne Jordan, D-Boise, was elected to succeed him. “Leadership can interfere with some of the things you want to do…
Rep. Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, has been elected House Minority Leader by the House Democratic caucus, replacing former Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, who lost to Republican Mike Kingsley in the November election. Erpelding formerly was assistant minority leader. The new assistant minority leader is Rep....
The Senate Republican Caucus is the first to check in with results of its leadership elections tonight: All its leaders were re-elected. That includes Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg; Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls; Assistant Majority Leader Chuck Winder, R-Boise; and Majority Caucus...
Idaho’s newest state legislators are being welcomed at a reception in the fourth-floor rotunda of the state Capitol, and then, lawmakers will split up into party caucuses for leadership elections tonight. So far, the only announced leadership challenges are at the lower levels of the…
It’s looking unlikely that Idaho lawmakers will move this year to do away with a special retirement perk for certain legislators – even though a citizens commission this year called for lawmakers to reconsider the perk; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com.…
Authorities say a 14-year-old girl died in a rollover crash after an argument between her father and stepmother escalated into throwing punches as they drove the teen to school. KTVB-TV reports that police arrested 46-year-old James Barnes and 25-year-old Jordan Jamison on Tuesday. They are each facing charges of felony...
Officials with the U.S. Department of Education say an Idaho school district violated federal law when it segregated elementary students into single-sex classrooms. Several years ago, Middleton Heights Elementary was among the dozens of public schools targeted by the American Civil Liberties Union over whether single-sex learning...
Gov. Butch Otter said today that education, and the continuation of a five-year plan to improve it in Idaho, will be his top priority in the upcoming 2017 legislative session. “I’m not taking my focus off of education,” Otter told an audience of more than…
Residential property owners are now paying 65 percent of the property taxes collected in Idaho, while commercial property owners are paying 27 percent, according to figures presented by Ada County Assessor Bob McQuade at the ATI conference today. That’s a shift from back in 1996,…
A businessman addressing the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho had a surprising recommendation today: Lower the two-thirds supermajority requirement for general-obligation bonds, which school districts and local governments now must get to invest in major infrastructure like new buildings. “Please don’t throw anything at me, don’t...
Jared Walczak, a policy analyst with the Tax Foundation, said a lot of states have been looking at “significant sales tax base broadening,” while Idaho hasn’t. That’s left Idaho with a relatively high sales tax rate, but “not collecting a lot,” he said. “There’s an…
Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little told hundreds of legislators, lobbyists, state and local government officials and others are gathered at the annual conference of the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho today that he believes the nation is at a turning point. “The American public has spoken....
A series of open-house-style public hearings on plans to save endangered wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake Rivers in the Pacific Northwest comes to Boise today, set for 4-7 p.m. at the Grove Hotel. The hearings are being held by the Bonneville…
Idaho's state Capitol is being dressed in its holiday finery, with the traditional poinsettias, garlands and wreaths adorning the rotunda...
Idaho Fish & Game has resumed online sales of hunting and fishing licenses and tags, after a months-long halt that followed the hacking of a vendor. Users now will have to establish a user name and password to use the system, as part of added…
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Grand Targhee Resort in northwest Wyoming will open for the season on Thursday. The announcements follow a weekend that saw 22 inches of snow fall on the Teton Range between Saturday and early Monday morning...
Idaho high school students haven’t been required to pass the ISAT, the Idaho Standards Achievement Test, to graduate from high school for the past two years, and the state Board of Education decided today they shouldn’t have to pass it this year, either, or in the future...
Gov. Butch Otter and First Lady Lori Otter are inviting the public to the state Capitol today at 5 p.m. for a holiday season celebration including the ceremonial lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree. The 25th Army Band will begin playing at 5, and there…
The Idaho Racing Commission is scrambling to avoid a funding crisis after its primary revenue source evaporated earlier this year with the closing of the largest horse racing track in the state. By law, a portion of the money bet on horse racing in Idaho is diverted to the commission, which relies on that money, as well as revenue from license...
Idaho’s 18 newest legislators are at the Capitol today for orientation, four of them new senators and 14 of them new representatives. Among the 18, just two have served in the Legislature before, new Sen. Mark Nye, D-Pocatello, as a representative; and Rep. Thyra Stevenson,…
A draft management plan for two recently created central Idaho wilderness areas prohibits campfires at high elevations to protect whitebark pine and eliminates horses and other recreational stock in some areas to protect alpine soils. The U.S. Forest Service...
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how Idaho state Treasurer Ron Crane isn’t saying why a state committee he chairs that’s charged with enhancing Idaho’s state credit rating hasn’t met in six years, and this year, when its annual report for…
Might Idaho Gov. Butch Otter be considered for interior secretary in a Trump administration? Idaho Statesman reporter Rocky Barker explored the possibilities in a column over the holiday; you can read it here. Two previous Idaho governors were appointed secretary of the interior – Cecil…
Federal officials are proposing one of the largest ever projects to remove juniper trees to protect habitat for imperiled sage grouse and might also benefit cattle ranchers. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Monday announced it's taking public comments through Jan. 3 on the plan to eliminate the trees from 940 square miles in Owyhee County...
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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