legislature

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KLIX) – A regional behavioral health board has been meeting since September to bring a crisis center to the Magic Valley. Its plan received legislative support on Wednesday when the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee voted 16-2 to divert nearly $1.5 million to fund two new centers in the state – one of them slated for south-central Idaho.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A northern Idaho senator is backing legislation to "expressly permit" using the Bible in public schools.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Officials with the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation say they've used approximately $70,000 in private sponsorships to partially offset their depleted budget.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Legislature's first-ever hearing on expanding Medicaid eligibility attracted hundreds of supporters Tuesday, but lawmakers declined to vote on whether to send the measure forward after listening to an hour of testimony.

BOISE (AP) — State health officials have unveiled new rules regarding penalties for not meeting the state's food stamps eligibility requirements.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho House has endorsed increasing fines for violating the state's open meeting law.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Public schools chief Tom Luna plans to ask the 2013 Idaho Legislature to adopt another pay-for-performance program for teachers, saying he doesn't believe voters' rejection of merit pay last week is any indication they want to return to the old way of compensating educators...

 BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Democrats were happy with the 2012 election, a night when they suffered no numeric losses in the Legislature and when voters defeated public schools chief Tom Luna's Republican-backed education overhaul. Minority party chairman Larry Grant said Wednesday that preserving the Democrats' 20 seats in the Capitol was an accomplishment, in a year when popular GOP presidential

!!Unofficial Results!! State Senator, District 23 REP   Bert Brackett     9,177       68.8% IND   Bill Chisholm     4,165       31.2% State Senator, District 24 REP        Lee Heider                     10,003        64...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho may set up a new board to oversee its emerging oil and natural gas industry, a bid to put more-knowledgeable people with fewer conflicts of interest in charge.  The Idaho Statesman reports the Department of Lands is drafting the proposal for the 2013 Legislature...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Democratic congressional candidate Jimmy Farris raised just $32,000 since August, less than a fifth the campaign receipts of Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador. Farris' fundraising struggles leave the former NFL football player with scant resources just 20 days before the Nov...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's Fish and Game commissioners are giving their endorsement to a constitutional amendment establishing the right to hunt, fish and trap in the state. The commission came out in strong support of the November ballot initiative in a letter issued Wednesday...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Republican Rep. Raul Labrador says he'll work to increase his time spent voting in Congress after his Democratic challenger criticized the amount of times he's missed votes in the U.S. House. The Idaho Statesman reports Labrador has been absent from voting at triple the rate of his recent predecessors...

The Idaho Legislature is moving closer to ending the session. However, there is one issue that lawmakers say will keep them there until Friday, and possibly into next week.  It's a disagreement on how surplus money should be spent, and the main point of contention is whether to give taxpayers a break, or to save for a rainy day.

Idaho House lawmakers marked Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's third birthday in captivity of a Taliban-allied group in central Asia. Bergdahl is a U.S. soldier from Hailey, Idaho, taken prisoner in Afghanistan in June 2009 who is now being held by the Haqqani network. The now-26-year-old Bergdahl was born March 28, 1986.

(AP)  Idaho legislators are now expected to adjourn on Friday. Senate Assistant Majority Leader Chuck Winder said Tuesday it will likely take until then for budget writers to complete their work. It appears a compromise over a five-year, $35 million teacher pay bill has been struck, after a new measure was introduced in the House Education Committee on Tuesday.

State representatives say they won't pursue Idaho' s controversial ultrasound-abortion bill that has been making national headlines recently.  At least this year.  The bill would require doctors to administer an ultrasound to the fetus of any woman who chooses an abortion in Idaho.

The legislative session is just about to wrap up but lawmakers are grappling with an issue they haven’t dealt with in a few years, a budget surplus and how to disperse surplus state money. Republican Senator Dean Cameron, the Chairman of the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee says at the end of the session the state will have about $77 million dollars that they need to decide what to do with.

The Idaho Legislature is entering enters its final push in 2012, but the Senate and House still have big-ticket bills to reconcile before heading home, including legislation on tax cuts and teacher salaries.  Several controversial measures may end up on the cutting room floor in lieu of higher priority legislation.

With "sine die," the end of the Idaho legislative session possibly coming as quickly as early next week, there is a flurry of activity at the Statehouse as numerous bills are making their way to the governor's desk or the dustbin.  Boise Rep. Julie Ellsworth said she worked all session to convince enough of her colleagues to pass a texting while driving ban.  After years of similar legis