After hours of debate, the House has narrowly killed HB 226, to accept a $5.98 million early-learning grant to the state Board of Education, but will reconsider the vote, which came out 34-36. Rep. John McCrostie, D-Garden City, noted that he was on the prevailing side and served notice of r…
Things have been much calmer in the Idaho Senate this morning than in the House, which has been roiled by Rep. Priscilla Giddings’ strenuous objections to a big early-childhood learning grant the State Board of Education has received. The Senate has passed SB 1088a, sponsored by Rep. Ali Rab…
The House was at ease for quite a while this morning, in part because of objections to documents that Rep. Priscilla Giddings wanted to distribute regarding an early-childhood grant, after which House Judiciary Chairman Greg Chaney, R-Caldwell, asked unanimous consent to return HB 195, the “…
The Legislature’s joint budget committee this morning sliced a long-vacant position and $17,400 out of Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin’s budget for next year, after she told the panel at a January budget hearing that it was up to lawmakers whether the position stayed in her budget or not.
The House has voted 59-8 in favor of SB 1033, to increase the annual funding for the Legislature by 26%. The bill earlier passed the Senate unanimously; it now heads to the governor’s desk. SB 1033, sponsored by the speaker and pro tem and co-sponsored by the two JFAC co-chairs, would increa…
Idaho gas prices have jumped, AAA Idaho reports, and are now more expensive than they were a year ago for the first time in nearly a year. “You’re definitely feeling the sting if you fill up today,” said AAA Idaho spokesman Matthew Conde. The state average, at $2.60 a gallon, is up 15 cents …
For the third year in a row, the Idaho Senate has killed legislation designed to give Idahoans easier access to birth control. Today, the Senate voted 18-16 against SB 1098, sponsored by Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, which would have directed Idaho insurers to cover up to 12-month prescript…
Two former Idaho attorneys general and a former deputy attorney general have formed a group to fight what they say are unconstitutional laws being proposed by the Legislature, the AP reports. Jim Jones, who is also a former chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court, announced on Monday that the Committee to Protect and Preserve the Idaho Constitution...
The Senate State Affairs Committee this morning voted 5-3 in favor of SJR 102, a new version of the House-passed constitutional amendment that would allow the Legislature to call itself into special session. “Since we can’t amend, we basically have to write a new one,” Senate President Pro T…
The Senate has voted 26-9 in favor of SB 1110, the bill to sharply increase the hurdles to get a voter initiative on the Idaho ballot, by requiring 6% of signatures of registered voters in all 35 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts, rather than in 18 as under current law. It was a near-party…
An effort to preserve the sanctity of cash from anti-bacterial fanatics took center stage in the House State Affairs Committee on Friday, writes Lewiston Tribune reporter Bill Spence. Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, sponsored legislation requiring all Idaho businesses to accept cash as a method of payment, without exception. She said the bill was prompted by retail firms that refused to take cash during the coronavirus...
Sen. Doug Ricks, R-Rexburg, told the Senate State Affairs Committee this morning that backers of HB 66, the bill he’s co-sponsoring with Rep. Ron Nate to impose restrictions on ballot language for bond and levy elections, have reached an agreement with the Idaho School Boards Association and…
A new committee of lawyers, led by two former Idaho attorneys general, has formed to "protect and preserve the Idaho Constitution" from "repeated attacks by the Idaho Legislature," and announced plans to "blow the whistle on legislation that threatens the integrity of the Idaho Constitution …
Idaho lawmakers have been expressing increasing frustration about businesses possibly losing their liquor licenses for failure to meet what seem like picky or even “silly” conditions, from the streamflow in the river outside to the location of a lakefront road.
Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, and Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, are pushing legislation that would create grants and scholarships for students. The scholarships have been controversial, with one superintendent calling it a “Trojan horse for a voucher program,” writes Post Register re…
Skyrocketing home values and stagnant tax policies are factors in the property tax burden shifting more and more onto homeowners, government analysts say. And the shift is taking a toll, write Idaho Press reporters Blake Jones and Rachel Spacek. “Property taxes are literally pushing people o…
For the Idaho’s colleges and universities, the session will begin in earnest Wednesday, writes Idaho Education News reporter Kevin Richert. That’s the day when the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee will write budget bills for the state’s four-year colleges and universities, and communit…
More than 100 medical students in Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine’s first class are set to graduate in May 2022, and now are more than halfway through their exploration of a dozen different medical fields with clinical clerkships, writes Post Register reporter Kyle Pfannenstiel, under …
U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher of Idaho is not currently under investigation over an alleged scuffle with Capitol security, a letter from the U.S. Capitol Police chief of staff stated Thursday. HuffPost congressional reporter Matt Fuller said Capitol Police called him in on Feb. 17 to interview him …
Rep. Barbara Ehardt’s, R-Idaho Falls, latest proposed legislation seeks to change requirements around sexual education at schools. On Wednesday, House Education Committee voted to introduce it. It now must pass a committee hearing before being put to vote on the House floor, writes Post Regi…
Idaho’s top health leader said if the COVID-19 vaccine supply continues to rise, the state’s weekly inventory could more than double within a month and secure a path to reach “some sense of normalcy” by summer’s end, writes Post Register reporter Kyle Pfannenstiel. ‘With the new contracts th…
It doesn’t happen often, but Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin cast a vote on the Senate floor Thursday, write Idaho Education News reporters Kevin Richert and Clark Corbin, and her vote killed a bill to create a volunteer mentorship program, SB 1109.
Two Idaho lawmakers have dropped their lawsuit against the Republican-led state Legislature and legislative leadership that alleged lax coronavirus protocols at the Statehouse, the AP reports. Democratic state Reps. Sue Chew of Boise and Muffy Davis of Sun Valley notified the federal court...
Nearly half the House voted against the budget for the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs today, though there was no debate and the budget bill passed, 35-30. It now moves to the Senate. The budget set by JFAC for the commission for next year comes to just $250,300 in state general funds, …
A $1.9 trillion federal stimulus bill could keep the Idaho Legislature in session several weeks longer than normal, as lawmakers wait to learn more about the plan, writes Lewiston Tribune reporter Bill Spence. The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the stimulus package...
Rep. Priscilla Giddings this morning tried to zero-fund Idaho Public Television, removing all its state funding and leaving it only with donations and federal grants, but her move was supported only by Rep. Ron Nate, and was defeated on a 2-16 vote in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.
The Idaho House killed two bills this afternoon, one of them, HB 212, bipartisan legislation to make sure low-income operators of certified family homes can take advantage of the “circuit breaker” property tax relief program if they otherwise qualify, which was killed by 2 votes; and the oth…
Despite strenuous and repeated debate against it from Reps. Ron Nate and Vito Barbieri, the House has passed HB 216, the Medicaid supplemental appropriation for next year, which recognizes the receipt of millions in additional federal matching funds authorized because of the COVID-19 pandemi…
A house panel on Tuesday introduced legislation allowing the use of snowmobiles, ATVs, powered parachutes and other methods to hunt and kill wolves year-round and with no limits in most of Idaho, the AP reports. The House Resources and Conservation Committee cleared...
In a sign of how testy things are getting in the Idaho House, a routine motion that’s usually made around this point in the session to waive the House rule that forbids eating and drinking in the chamber, as legislative days get longer and floor sessions stretch late into the afternoon, drew…
After a lengthy public hearing in which nearly all those who testified opposed the bill, the House State Affairs Committee has passed HB 220, Rep. Bruce Skaug’s bill seeking to halt all public funding, from all levels of government, to Planned Parenthood or any other entity that provides abo…
The Senate has voted unanimously, 34-0, to pass HB 176, authorizing the spending of $175 million in rental assistance Idaho was awarded by the COVID-19 relief bill signed into law by President Trump on Dec. 27. That’s final passage for the bill, which earlier passed the House on a 59-8 vote …
The Senate has moved up HB 67 and HB 68, removing authority of public health districts over schools and over public colleges and universities, after Senate Majority Leader Kelly Anthon, R-Burley, said they needed to be heard today; both were on the Senate’s 3rd Reading calendar, but were far…
The House Revenue & Taxation Committee voted this morning to introduce legislation proposed by Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, R-Lewiston, to require two-thirds approval from voters in a May or November election before any local entity could install publicly funded art that costs more than $10,…
Budgets set this morning in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, all on unanimous or near-unanimous votes, included the budgets for the Department of Lands, Fish & Game, the state Department of Administration and the Permanent Building Fund, which is the state’s capital budget for…
HB 101, the bill from Reps. John Vander Woude and Bruce Skaug to give all state agencies the option of hiring private attorneys at state expense rather than using the services of the Idaho Attorney General’s office, passed the House on a near-party-line 54-15 vote today, not long after the A…
The House Agricultural Affairs Committee on Wednesday chose to delay a vote on HB 126, an industrial hemp legalization bill, until committee members can collect more information, writes Idaho Press reporter Ryan Suppe. The primary hang-up was Idaho State Police's stance on the bill, which wa…
Democratic lawmakers from the Idaho House and Senate blasted their Republican colleagues Wednesday for engaging in what they called a power grab from the governor, local governments and voters while key legislation languishes, the AP reports. House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel and Senate Minority Caucus Chair Janie Ward-Engelking said...
The first case of the United Kingdom variant of COVID-19 has been identified in Idaho, in an Ada County woman, Central District Health and the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare report. This follows the first infection with the South Africa variant in Idaho, reported last week in a sou…
The House has voted very narrowly – 35-33 – in favor of Gov. Brad Little’s proposed $3 million one-time boost to Idaho state park facilities as part of his “Building Idaho’s Future” initiative. There was no debate on the bill; Rep. Megan Blanksma asked if it was part of the governor’s initia…
