Posted by Betsy

Feb. 13, 2012 4:15 p.m. - Updated: 4:18 p.m.

At a joint hearing of the House and Senate Resources committees this afternoon on state-federal oversight and the sage grouse, there was lots of concern that efforts to improve habitat for the unique fowl in order to avoid endangered species listing might be as onerous for ranchers and others as listing itself. As the various presenters spoke, a member of the audience dressed as a big, fuzzy bear nodded thoughtfully. Presenters included Idaho Fish & Game Director Virgil Moore; former U.S. Interior solicitor Bill Myers; and Office of Species Conservation Administrator Nate Fisher. Idaho Statesman reporter Rocky Barker has a full report here.

The sage grouse, whose habitat extends through much of southern Idaho, is listed as “warranted but precluded” from listing as endangered, because the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ruled that listing it was “precluded by the need to take action on other species facing more immediate and severe extinction threats.” However, it remains on the list of species that are candidates for Endangered Species Act Protection, and its status is reviewed annually. The birds, prized for hunting, are dependent on dwindling sagebrush habitat; they now occupy 56 percent of their historical range.
  

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Posted by Betsy

Feb. 13, 2012 3:27 p.m. - Updated: 3:33 p.m.

Only one amendment was considered to HB 404, the anti-Occupy Boise bill: The one sponsored by Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, and seconded by Sen. Dan Johnson, R-Lewiston, to exempt college and university property from the bill's new camping ban on certain state property. “Now this is an amendment to an amendment,” Schmidt told the Senate. “The intent is the same.”

Said Schmidt, “The purpose of this amendment is to make sure the public universities and public colleges in the state of Idaho will not be included in this statute that is being considered. My discussions with universities as well as the Board of Education have said they are in favor of this exclusion. In my opinion, the drafters of this bill didn't think about this, and thus, we could, if this bill passes, eventually have unintended consequences. I don't think that's the intent of this bill, and I don't think that's the intent of this body.” But, he added, “We're going to find out.”

Then, the Senate voted on the amendment by voice vote, and it clearly failed – it sounded like the chamber's seven Democrats and very few others voted in favor of it; the Senate has 28 Republicans. The amendment had passed the same chamber last week. Now the bill will go back into line to be voted on as amended, taking the Senate back to where it was before today's exercise.

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Feb. 13, 2012 3:14 p.m. - Updated: 3:16 p.m.

HB 404a, the bill to evict the Occupy Boise encampment from state land across from the Capitol by imposing a new camping ban on certain state property, has been referred back to the Senate's 14th Order for amendment by unanimous consent of the Senate. Sen. Dan Schmidt's proposed amendment, which would exempt colleges and universities from the new ban so they could choose to allow camping for soccer tournaments, swim meets and the like, is now an “amendment to the amendment.”

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Posted by Betsy

Feb. 13, 2012 2:57 p.m. - Updated: 3:04 p.m.

Former Idaho Sen. Joe Stegner of Lewiston, now the University of Idaho's chief lobbyist, said the U of I was fine with an amendment to the anti-Occupy bill proposed earlier by Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, to exempt state colleges and universities from the new camping ban on state property. “We're comfortable and if it passes, we would be fine with that,” Stegner said. “We did not initiate that effort.” That's because the university's general counsel thinks other laws might protect the university's abilities to manage it campuses, Stegner said, so the UI is “kind of neutral,” but, he said, “If that is the amendment and it goes through, the university community would appreciate the clarification.”

The amendment earlier passed the Senate, but then was lost on procedural grounds after a different amendment that replaced entire sections of the bill was approved. Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, who sponsored that other amendment, said the plan is to return to the Senate's amending order when the Senate reconvenes this afternoon to give senators a chance to reconsider that. Said Davis, “All I wanted to do was make sure that Sen. Schmidt had a more fair shot at this university amendment, that he is treated with the dignity that any senator is entitled to.”

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Posted by Betsy

Feb. 13, 2012 2:40 p.m. - Updated: 2:43 p.m.

Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― Lawmakers have stamped final approval on legislation to let out-of-state service members pay in-state tuition at Idaho's universities and colleges. The Idaho Senate voted 35-0 to approve the measure, HB 384, which allows members of the U.S. armed forces to meet residency requirements and pay in-state tuition immediately upon their return home. Under current law, these soldiers would have to live in Idaho for at least a year before they could pay in-state tuition. The difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition can mean thousands of dollars each year. Lawmakers have previously moved to allow out-of-state members of the Idaho National Guard to pay in-state tuition. The state Board of Education has said the absence of a similar fix for U.S. armed service members was an oversight.

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Posted by Betsy

Feb. 13, 2012 2:29 p.m. - Updated: 2:30 p.m.

Three bills making a series of mostly minor changes to all three of last year's “Students Come First” school reform laws have been introduced in the Senate Education Committee this afternoon at the request of Jason Hancock, aide to state schools Supt. Tom Luna. Meanwhile, another measure introduced in the House Education committee today would broaden the program's performance-pay bonus program so that teachers with fewer than three years of experience would be eligible; Rep. Mack Shirley, R-Rexburg, called the decision to exclude those new teachers from the bonus plan “unfair and unnecessary,” the AP reports. All four measures now await committee hearings.

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Posted by Betsy

Feb. 13, 2012 2:19 p.m. - Updated: 2:19 p.m.

After a smaller fee hike was killed in the House last year, the Idaho State Police persuaded the House Judiciary Committee to pass legislation today to shore up the dwindling budget for the Peace Officers Standard and Training (POST) Academy by increasing a current fee on offenders from $10 to $15, the AP reports. Last year's bill would have raised it by just $1.50. The bill, HB 448, now moves to the full House for a vote.

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Posted by Betsy

Feb. 13, 2012 12:50 p.m. - Updated: 2:16 p.m.

Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has offered to send Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber 150 wolves, saying his own state has a few of the predators to spare. Monday's offer came in a tongue-in-cheek letter where Otter sarcastically apologized to Kitzhaber after an Idaho hunter killed a wolf from an Oregon pack that strayed across Idaho's border to the east. On Feb. 2, the Idaho hunter killed a brother of an Oregon wolf that became a celebrity by wandering hundreds of miles into Northern California seeking a mate. Otter, no fan of the mid-1990s wolf reintroduction to central Idaho, offered Kitzhaber “my sincerest apologies.” Then, Otter said he'd have the Idaho Fish and Game Department round up another 150 wolves ― or any number Kitzhaber needed or was willing to take.

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Posted by Betsy

Feb. 13, 2012 12:43 p.m. - Updated: 12:46 p.m.

A second Democratic jobs bill was shot down today without even a public hearing, reports Lewiston Tribune reporter Bill Spence at his Political Theater blog; you can read his full post here. Spence reports that the House Revenue & Taxation Committee this morning voted 11-6 to return the bill to its sponsor, House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, rather than introduce it; the bill would have created a $500 “finder's fee” tax credit incentive for businesses that persuade their suppliers or partners to relocate to Idaho.

Three Republicans joined the committee's three Democrats in backing introducing the bill; they were outvoted. Last week, the House Business Committee voted against introducing another bill from Rusche that would have used state bonding authority to create a revolving loan fund for small businesses; both measures are part of legislative Democrats' “IJOBS 2.0” package of legislation this year aimed at creating jobs in the state.

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Posted by Betsy

Feb. 13, 2012 12:20 p.m. - Updated: 12:23 p.m.

“Washington has not changed me,” Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador declared today as he launched his bid for a second term in Congress. Here's evidence: The freshman congressman hasn't found himself a home to rent in Washington, D.C. while he's there - he's sleeping on his office couch instead, and returning to Idaho and his family each weekend. “I commute every week,” Labrador said. Asked how that's going, he said, “Planes are not my favorite thing - that's really the only tough part.”

Labrador is not alone among congressmen in choosing to bunk in his congressional office while in the nation's capitol. “There's people who have been doing it for over 10 years,” he said. Last year, Politico reported that retiring Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Michigan, slept on the couch of his Capitol Hill office for 17 years and nine months; he told Politico then, “I always figured I’d lose someday, but it’d never be because I’d gone D.C. and forgotten who I worked for.”

Labrador and his wife, Becca, looked at possible homes in the D.C. area for the family when he first was elected, but decided against getting a place, at least for now. “I have kids in high school,” he said. “I want to make sure they still have those Idaho roots.” Labrador said if re-elected, he'll continue sleeping on  his office couch for the next two years.
  

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