GUN RIGHTS
Militia members: All Idaho adults?
Lawmakers fearful the U.S. Supreme Court might one day reverse itself on the issue of individual gun rights aim to change the Idaho Constitution's definition of a militia to include all the state's adults.
That way, argued Sen. Jim Rice of Caldwell Wednesday in the Senate State Affairs Committee, the federal government could never swoop in and disarm residents.
Rice wants to put the amendment before voters in the November 2014 election, calling it an important "backstop" to existing protections of individual gun rights.
For now, however, he just wants to get people talking about the issue.
He says it's surpassed all other matters before the 2013 Idaho Legislature - including the insurance exchange and proposed personal property tax repeal - based on opinions of people who have contacted him.
The Associated Press
EDUCATION
Panel OKs open negotiations bill
The Senate Education Committee unanimously approved a bill Tuesday mandating open meetings between teachers and school boards during contract discussions.
The proposal would require school boards to post notices of upcoming negotiation sessions and make all meeting minutes and contract offers subject to the state's open records laws.
The Idaho School Board Association Executive Director Karen Echeverria said ending open negotiations when voters struck down the Students Come First laws last November was an "unintended consequence."
The legislation goes to the full Senate for debate.
The Associated Press
SCHOLARSHIPS
House to consider redirecting funds
A handful of higher education scholarships would be consolidated or eliminated under a proposal passed by the House Education Committee Wednesday. It calls for eliminating one of the state's merit-based scholarships and redirecting the existing pool of money to the Idaho Opportunity Scholarship
The legislation would also repeal a loan-forgiveness program for Idahoans who go on to teaching or nursing careers and dump a scholarship program for minority and at risk youth.
Money from those programs would be deposited into the Opportunity Scholarship, which provides money for disadvantaged students. The legislation now moves to the full House.
The Associated Press
TEEN DRIVERS
Learners wouldn't be able to take calls
Teens learning to drive would be banned from talking on cellphones while driving during the six-month practice period prescribed under Idaho's graduated drivers license law, under a bill that cleared the House Transportation Committee on a 9-7 vote Tuesday. HB 155 now heads to the full House.
AAA of Idaho, which backed the bill, conducted a statewide poll in November that found 88 percent of Idaho voters backed banning the use of cellphones by drivers 18 and younger.
Under HB 155, teen drivers-in-training who violate the ban would have to repeat their six-month practice period before qualifying for a license.
Betsy Z. Russell,Spokesman- Review
OIL AND GAS
Bill would exempt wells from taxes
HB 141 was sent to the House floor without much fanfare.
The bill treats oil and gas wells the same as geothermal and irrigation wells - at least everywhere but Bonneville County, which taxes irrigation wells. Idaho code is silent on those wells.
The Idaho Petroleum Council brought the legislation to put Idaho in line with other states and with other similar economic activities in Idaho.
Rocky Barker
MENTAL HEALTH
Bill retools Idaho's behavioral services
Budget constraints and a growing focus on mental health have prompted a shift in how the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare approaches care.
On Tuesday, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee passed a bill that would localize and streamline behavioral health services administered through Health and Welfare.
Ross Edmunds, administrator for the Division of Behavioral Health, said behavioral health services provided locally do a better job linking to resources than managers at a state office.
Melissa Davlin, Times News
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