On tonight’s “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television, host Melissa Davlin interviews Senate Majority Leader Chuck Winder, R-Boise; and producer Seth Ogilvie reports on mining, Midas Gold and the Stibnite Mine site. On the pundits panel, I join Davlin, Kevin Richert of Idaho Education News,…
Bipartisan legislation introduced in the House Judiciary Committee this week would allow a first-time offender charged with possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana to get the charge reduced from a misdemeanor to an infraction, if the offender voluntarily completes four hours of…
The Legislature’s joint budget committee voted unanimously today in favor of legislation to set up a funding mechanism for a $102 million, five-year modernization of the state’s business systems, including statewide accounting, payroll and procurement systems. As proposed by state Controller Brandon Woolf and recommended...
The Idaho House ended its week on a somber note today, with the news that Bill Molitor, husband of Mary Lou Molitor, the executive assistant to the speaker, passed away last night in his sleep. Molitor, 68, had undergone heart surgery on Sunday and had…
An Idaho candidate for governor, who would ban political candidates from paying campaign funds to family members, gave his son-in-law $20,000 last month for campaign-related services. A campaign finance report this week for Boise businessman Tommy Ahlquist listed the payment as an official campaign expense. Thursday, after questions from...
The House Education Committee adjourned its hearing this morning after hearing from 22 people, all supporting new, revised science standards for Idaho. The seven people who testified yesterday also all backed the new standards. Chair Julie VanOrden, R-Pingree, didn’t say when the committee would make...
Among the testimony to the House Education Committee this morning on proposed new science standards: Lisa Hecht, who worked for Hewlett Packard for 30 years as an electrical engineer and program manager, told the committee, “One thing I learned is that you can’t BS an...
House Education Chair Rep. Julie VanOrden, R-Pingree, announced this morning that the committee won’t vote on the school science standards today; it’ll just hear the remainder of the public testimony. “We will be taking it up in the future again to take action on it,”…
The Senate State Affairs Committee introduced legislation Wednesday that would raise the legal age of tobacco use in Idaho from 18 to 21. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Fred Martin, R-Boise, is intended to make it more difficult for minors and young adults to take…
U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, says he has joined the race to be chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. At least three other Republicans have announced their interest in succeeding Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., who announced he will retire at the end of his…
A “landmark” proposal to make patronizing a prostitute a felony on first offense earned a split vote in the Idaho House on Thursday following an emotional, two-hour hearing. Members of the House Judiciary and Rules Committee seemed to agree with the bill's sponsor, Rep. Brent Crane, about the need to "send a strong" message that this activity...
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
