On Friday, the Senate passed a bill to help educators in high-need and rural areas with various educational costs. Senate Bill 1290, sponsored by Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking (D-Boise) and Rep. Sally Toone (D-Gooding), establishes a rural educator incentive program for educators who work in high-need or rural school districts and charter schools. It would provide the maximum amount of eligible …
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On Friday, a bill enabling Idaho school districts to access federal funding to purchase low or zero emission school buses unanimously passed the Senate. Senate Bill 1319, sponsored by Sen. David Nelson (D-Moscow), fixes a flaw in state code that was a barrier for some of Idaho’s bigger school districts and charter schools to apply for funds from the Federal …
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On Tuesday, a bill to provide in-home caregivers property tax relief passed the Senate in a 29-5 vote. Senate Bill 1259, sponsored by Sen. Melissa Wintrow (D-Boise), would allow a person who is the owner of a certified family home to qualify for the state’s property tax reduction program, also known as the circuit breaker, by exempting the payment they …
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On Friday, the Senate adopted a concurrent resolution aimed at combating childhood trauma. House Concurrent 29, sponsored by Rep. Brooke Green (D-Boise) and Sen. David Nelson (D-Moscow), passed the full House earlier this month, and encourages state officers, agencies, and employees to become better informed on the long- and short-term impacts of severe emotional trauma on children and adult survivors. …
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Idaho public schools are the backbone of our local communities. But for many districts, facilities are crumbling due to age and a lack of resources needed to make repairs. This issue is further compounded by Idaho’s extreme population growth in recent years, leading to significant overcrowding in many schools, which can now only be fixed with new construction. The Idaho …
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Idaho House Democrats supported a motion to send House Bill 509 to general orders, where legislation can be amended. The motion failed on a 26-41vote. The bill, which later passed the House, increases the grocery tax credit by $20 per person starting in the 2023 tax year. The motion sought to amend the legislation to instead repeal the grocery tax …
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I’ve knocked on nearly 30,000 doors and spoke with thousands of people from across the political spectrum in my district. This experience has taught me that good ideas and good people come from all directions. It has also helped me define the difference between a politician and a statesman. A politician tends to only represent the people who vote for …
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On Wednesday, the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee refused to introduce legislation to allow employees suffering with work-related post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI) to seek workers’ compensation. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Sally Toone (D-Gooding), died on a 5-7 vote. It would have added a new section to the state Workers’ Compensation system to cover treatment for PTSI for employees …
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Amid Idaho’s growing housing crisis, the House GOP passed legislation to remove renter protections in a 54-14 vote. House Bill 442 would prevent cities from setting reasonable maximum fees or deposits for residential rental properties, like application fees or pet deposits. With cities unable to ensure these basic protections, there are no checks on unscrupulous landlords who can bankrupt families …
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A bill to reduce supplemental levies for school districts was introduced in the Senate Education Committee Thursday. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. David Nelson (D-Moscow), would enable the Idaho Legislature to appropriate additional funding to K-12 schools. Per the bill, if a school has a supplemental levy in place, 75% of the allocated money must go to reducing the levy. …
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