Yesterday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing stretched for more than four hours, from 1:30 in the afternoon until well after 5. When it was done, the panel had approved bipartisan legislation to limit civil asset forfeiture in Idaho, and to charge heroin pushers with murder if…
House-passed legislation to license sign-language interpreters in Idaho has cleared a Senate committee and headed to the full Senate. HB 46 passed the Senate Commerce Committee this afternoon with just two “no” votes, from Sens. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene, and Todd Lakey, R-Nampa. Rep. Kelley…
With just one “no” vote, the House Transportation Committee has approved HB 204, to allow “personal delivery robots” to travel on Idaho sidewalks like motorized wheelchairs and Segways. Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, who cast the only “no” vote, said, “I think I’m the only conservative…
Senate Transportation Chairman Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson, eyed a “personal delivery robot” from Starship Techologies Inc. that was being demonstrated in the Capitol rotunda today and joked that he told its sponsors, “As soon as we figure out how to license it, regulate it and tax...
Since an annual tax deduction of up to $4,000 a year for individuals - $8,000 for married couples – was established in 2000 for contributions to Idaho’s IDeal college savings account program, tuition and fees at Idaho’s colleges and universities have gone up 189 percent,...
After more than an hour and a quarter of debate, the Senate has voted 8-26 against SB 1072, legislation regarding dyed fuel. That took up the majority of this morning’s Senate floor session. The bill was sponsored by Senate Transportation Chairman Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson.
The House State Affairs Committee has voted along party lines to send HB 189, Rep. Jason Monks’ bill to prohibit “interference” by government in elections, to the House’s amending order, after two days of hearings brought up numerous problems with the revised proposal...
Legislative budget writers have set a budget for Idaho’s community colleges for next year that’s just $128,700 higher than the governor’s recommendation, thanks to that amount being added for the College of Western Idaho to better reflect its increasing enrollment. “The percentage was a little...
For Idaho’s four-year colleges and universities, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has set a budget that’s very slightly above Gov. Butch Otter’s recommendation, at a 2.7 percent increase in state general funds, where Otter recommended a 2.2 percent increase. In total funds, the budget is nearly...
House Health & Welfare Chairman Fred Wood is pulling his $10 million proposal to provide at least some care for those in Idaho’s health coverage gap, the Lewiston Tribune reports, saying the measure doesn’t have enough votes to move out of committee, much less pass…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has set a budget for Idaho Public Television for next year that matches Gov. Butch Otter’s recommendation. While it shows a 10.1 percent increase in general funds, it’s just a 3.6 percent increase in total funds, and the only significant increase...
The Idaho House on Monday killed legislation from the state Department of Labor to allow it to conduct FBI background checks on employees, even though the bill sponsor warned that the state could lose millions of dollars the department relies on to pay federal unemployment…
Despite efforts by members and the chairman of the Senate Education Committee to convince their House counterparts to go along with approving new state science standards without deleting five sections referring to climate change, the senators reported today that the House wouldn’t sign on. “Those...
Idaho Superintendent of Schools Sherri Ybarra issued a statement today praising the public school budget set this morning in JFAC. Here’s her full statement: “The public schools budget set today shows the state’s commitment to education. This budget not only funds our priorities and initiatives,…
Secretary of State Lawerence Denney says Boise businessman Tommy Ahlquist has promised to file as a registered candidate for governor following a complaint, the AP reports. Denney said Monday he received an informal complaint last week...
The Idaho House unanimously approved legislation Monday that would create a statewide standard on how long physical evidence in sexual assault investigations should be retained. According to the proposal, rape kits involved in felony or anonymous cases would have to be retained for 55 years or...
A common virus that can cause severe birth defects if pregnant women are exposed to it is the target of legislation that cleared the Idaho Senate today on a 31-3 vote, calling for the state Department of Health and Welfare to distribute information to health…
Idaho would join 20 other states currently offering sales tax incentives to data centers under newly introduced legislation. Officials with the Idaho Department of Commerce are backing a measure that would offer sales tax rebates to eligible server equipment...
House legislative leaders say they have found a palatable solution to funneling $17 million to repair Idaho's roads and bridges without hurting the Idaho State Police budget. House Majority Leader Mike Moyle says that his latest proposal would replace the fuel tax funding ISP receives with 1 percent of the state's general funds...
The House has voted unanimously in favor of HB 123, Rep. Robert Anderst’s bill to ban “motorcycle profiling.” Anderst, R-Nampa, told the House, “For years, the motorcycle community has been working diligently to bring legislation to prohibit what are commonly referred to as profiling stops.”…
With no disagreement on the final divisions of the public school budget, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has now set the public schools budget for next year at $1.685 billion in state general funds, a 6.3 percent increase in state general funds. Gov. Butch Otter had called for a 6.4...
JFAC has voted 13-6 in favor of Rep. Wendy Horman’s motion for the Operations Division of the public school budget, which means Sen. Dean Mortimer’s proposal – which was framed around setting up a separate line item for health insurance cost increases within the school...
Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, arguing for his motion for the Operations Division of the public school budget, said he believes the public school budget needs a line item for health insurance costs. “More and more districts are saying that they need a line item,”...
Sen. Dean Mortimer’s motion to cut $4.25 million for professional development out of the Teachers Division of the public school budget – in order to allow that money to be shifted to a new line item for health insurance – has failed on a 7-12...
The public school budget is divided into six divisions, or seven counting educational services for the deaf and blind. Each division is funded through a separate debate and motion in the joint budget committee. The first one to come up, for the Administrators Division, was…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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