The Senate’s public schools budget vote: an analysis
Sen. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett It has been, as Sen. Steven Thayn put it Wednesday, a “dysfunctional” session on education issues. And he said that before senators did something extremely unusual: They...
View ArticleRoadmap leads to next week, with early break for Easter in Idaho Senate
Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis opened Thursday’s floor session with his customary “roadmap,” which is considerably more complex following Wednesday’s 18-17 Senate vote to kill the K-12 schools...
View ArticleGrudging support for a K-12 summer assignment
Many lawmakers dislike interim committees, the legislative panels that are put together to spend the offseason studying issues that didn’t get resolved during the regular legislative session. But...
View ArticleIdaho Dems urge weekend campaign on Medicaid expansion to save taxpayers $478...
Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Larry Kenck says Republicans in the Legislature are scared to take up Medicaid expansion bills because they fear “blowback from their ‘return to the gold standard’...
View ArticleSix House defectors helped Senate derail schools budget
When several House Republicans sought to defect to the Senate during the 2012 elections, the conventional wisdom held that this shift would make the Senate more conservative — and more like the House....
View ArticleWhile we wait: two good links on the K-12 budget impasse
April began quietly at the Statehouse. Almost ghost-town quiet. The House and the Senate won’t convene until 1:30 p.m. — the better to allow out-of-town legislators to spend the Easter weekend at home....
View ArticleSigns point to a K-12 budget accord (UPDATED)
(UPDATED, 10:37 a.m., with comments from Senate floor.) Do legislators have a deal to set the 2013-14 public school budget — and end the 2013 legislative session? Here’s one important sign. The House...
View ArticleDavis: Deal in works; Idaho Legislature aims for Thursday adjournment
Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, told the Senate Tuesday that the impasse over intent language that prompted the defeat of the $1.3 billion K-12 schools budget last week appears to...
View ArticleIdaho House committee approves end run around Boise planning and zoning laws
Senate Bill 1192 remained on the fast track Tuesday and was approved on an 11-5 vote, clearing the way for a state parking garage the city of Boise says has design problems. Introduced March 22, the...
View ArticleIdaho Sen. Schmidt on when not to pick a fight
Sen. Dan Schmidt is among four Democrats on the 20-member Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee who won praise from the committee’s GOP co-chairs, Sen. Dean Cameron of Rupert and Rep. Maxine Bell of...
View ArticleThe K-12 budget impasse: an analysis
The Senate Education Committee put its stamp — albeit a faint stamp — on the K-12 budget on Wednesday. The committee opened the morning with a public hearing on two contentious pieces of the budget,...
View ArticleThe session’s last big education debate: an analysis
On the last day of the 2013 legislative session, lawmakers had one final big debate about education. Not about the $1.3 billion budget. That bill passed both houses easily Thursday morning, after about...
View ArticleFor DeMordaunt, North Star charter plight hits home
Reed DeMordaunt founded North Star Charter School, but he hasn’t served on the school’s board since May 2004. Rep. Reed DeMordaunt, R-Eagle But like other parents, he has pitched in when and where he...
View Article2014 Idaho Medicaid expansion hinges on hard work, new lawmakers
Gov. Butch Otter said last week that building consensus over time was critical to convincing lawmakers to enact a state-run health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act this year. Prospects...
View ArticleNonini hasn’t given up on scholarship tax credit bill
Sen. Bob Nonini isn’t talking much to Idaho news reporters these days; for example, he turned down a request from Idaho Education News a few weeks back, when we wanted to talk to him about his...
View ArticleFrugal Idaho among states in the black, with $60 million surplus
The Idaho Legislature adjourned for the year in better financial shape than most states, projecting a $60 million surplus in the fiscal year ending June 30. For fiscal 2014, the state expects to have a...
View ArticleEducation bills: a post-session signings roundup
Gov. Butch Otter Butch Otter’s veto stamp got the lion’s share of the attention last week — but the governor quietly signed several bills that have important implications for public schools. Heading...
View ArticleIdaho is running a surplus, but is that really good news?
Unlike many states, Idaho is expected to finish the 2012-13 budget year in the black — to the tune of $60 million. That’s good news. Or is it? It depends on your point of view. For the glass half-full...
View ArticleScouting the Legislature’s K-12 study committee
Which lawmakers will spend the summer on a broad homework assignment: “to undertake and complete a study of how to improve and strengthen Idaho’s K-12 educational system and all matters relating...
View ArticleFormer Idaho GOP Sen. Herb Carlson dead at 94
Sen. Herb Carlson, a Republican with a heroic life story he largely kept to himself, died April 18 at his home in Eagle. Carlson was elected in 1982 and reelected five times, bringing a moderate voice...
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