Idaho officials are in preliminary discussions with the U.S. Forest Service on possibly buying federal public lands. State Forester David Groeschl of the Idaho Department of Lands told Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and other members of the Idaho Land Board on Tuesday that the state is eyeing timberland that the federal agency has previously proposed...
Law enforcement agencies would have to follow new statewide standards on how long physical evidence in sexual assault investigations should be retained under new legislation headed to the House floor. "God forbid we ever throw out evidence that could have led to somebody's conviction," said Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, who has become the...
Legislation to ban “motorcycle profiling” in Idaho won strong support from the House Judiciary Committee this afternoon, as members praised the bill’s backers and voted unanimously to send the measure to the full House. “This is the people’s house, and you are welcome any time,...
Legislation requiring the Idaho State Lottery to comply with the state's contracting laws is headed to the governor's desk for approval. Lawmakers were alarmed earlier this year after learning that the lottery was asking potential vendors to provide information on how they offer Keno, simulated racing, fantasy sports and other illegal...
There's a big crowd at the House Judiciary Committee's meeting this afternoon, including dozens of leather-clad motorcycling enthusiasts. The committee has a fairly long agenda; at its very end is Rep. Robert Anderst's bill to define and forbid "motorcycle profiling," so that law enforcement officers...
Retired Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Jones has sent out a guest opinion today calling for repeal of Idaho’s faith-healing exemption, which protects parents from prosecution if they deny their child medical care and the child dies or becomes seriously ill. The piece is…
It wasn’t the original focus of the bill, but the Senate today voted 34-1 in favor of allowing 18-year-olds – rather than just those 21 or older – to run for the Idaho Legislature. The twice-amended bill, HB 12aa, originally was proposed by the Idaho…
The House has killed legislation from House Transportation Chairman Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, to shift $17 million from state highway funds that now goes to the Idaho State Police to roads, phasing the shift in over five years at roughly $3 million a year. After much…
Jonathan Krutz with the group Stop Predatory Gambling told the House State Affairs Committee that gambling is dangerous to people and economies. “There’s an army of people behind me that are not going to come before this committee that are devastated by gambling,” he said....
Nathan Small, who said he was first elected to the business council for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes back in 1988, recalled all the years of questions, negotiations and litigation over tribal gaming. “Believe me, I’ve heard every question that was brought up here today,” he told…
Scott Crowell, attorney for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, told lawmakers, “The legislation is an illegal attempt to unilaterally amend tribal gaming compacts.” If HB 127 were to pass, he said, the state would quickly have another lawsuit. “This legislation, if it’s passed, will result in a…
Darrell Shay, vice chairman of the Fort Hall Business Council of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, told lawmakers, “I’m here to talk to you leader to leader, and I appeal to your sense of fair play. I’ve been around long enough to have experienced the tribal and...
Shannon Wheeler, a member of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee, the governing body of the Nez Perce Tribe, told the House State Affairs Committee, “The Nez Perce Tribe respectfully requests that this bill not be passed out of committee.” He said HB 127 alters…
Rep. Dustin Manwaring, R-Pocatello, pressed Coeur d’Alene Racing Manager Doug Okuniewicz on his contention that HB 127 wouldn’t put Idaho’s tribal casinos out of business, noting that Idaho has long had tribal gaming. “We don’t know the impacts – the impacts will be negative,” Manwaring…
The Idaho Attorney General’s office has written two legal opinions on HB 127, in response to requests from Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, and Ilana Rubel, D-Boise. You can read the Loertscher opinion here and the Rubel opinion here. Both conclude that HB 127 has legal…
Doug Okuniewicz, general manager for Coeur d’Alene Racing, which operates the Greyhound Park Event Center in Post Falls, was the first one called to testify at this morning’s hearing. He showed a video in which he said he’s worked in casino gambling and is an...
House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, opened this morning’s hearing on his bill, HB 127, saying, “We authorized in the state a state lottery.” That, he said, “brings us to this discussion today.” Loertscher noted that the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act “said that…
The hearing in the House State Affairs Committee this morning on HB 127, Rep. Tom Loertscher's bill targeting tribal gaming, is being held in room EW 42, the House Rev & Tax hearing room, which is larger than the room where State Affairs normally meets.…
A former House committee secretary who claims she overheard an offensive conversation between then-House Assistant Majority leader Scott Bedke and Tom Perry, then an attorney for Gov. Butch Otter, during testimony at a 2012 House committee hearing, claimed in an “affidavit” that she provided to…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
