On September 1, the Legislature convened for a single day to consider and pass a bill that does three things: designates $330 million of sales tax proceeds to be earmarked for K-12 schools and $80 million for higher education; allocates $500 million for a one-time tax...
Adjournment / Vetoes We were on the floor until midnight Friday when finally every bill had been voted on. I moved to adjourn sine die to end the session, but my motion was defeated on a near party-line vote as the GOP wanted to remain in session to potentially...
Librarians HB666 just passed the house on Monday. It provides that librarians, teachers and museum workers can face up to a year in jail for providing “material harmful to a minor.” It is not clear what this encompasses, but the statutory language would...
Voting There are at least three voting restriction bills coming through right now. HB547 makes it a crime to deliver someone else’s ballot if they are not in your family / household. I am very concerned about this bill, which was opposed by disability advocates,...
Taxes The very first thing the House did was pass HB436, a $600 million income / corporate tax cut, in which most Idahoans will get ~$75 while those in the top 1% will get $13,000. Here’s a chart showing the distribution. I’ve heard from so many of you...
Let’s hope we’re heading into the final stretch. We now have three House members who tested positive for COVID just this week, so it would seem wise to wrap things up before it gets worse. Foster care I wanted to start with some good news. Our bill to...