On Friday I blogged live from the Idaho House of Representatives, where Rep. Branden Durst, D-Boise, was dinged as out-of-order after an emotional attempt to force the entire House to debate community college issues. Well, today Durst posted ...
Read More »He 'won't back down'
Getting personal 
At 9 a.m. this morning, a House committee will meet at the Idaho Legislature to take up a proposal every business owner should care about: getting rid of the personal property tax. The tax is levied by counties on ...
Read More »IdaCorp earnings climb thanks to power subsidiary 
Idacorp on Feb. 15 reported 2006 earnings more than $40 million higher than in 2005. Earnings last year were $107 million, or $2.51 per share, according to the company. That compared to $64 million, or $1.50 a share, in ...
Read More »Senate considers bill to increase public comment for feedlots 
Chastising one county for limiting its citizens' ability to speak out about a proposed feedlot, a state Senate committee has approved a bill that would allow any “affected person” to testify before local officials about permit applications for such facilities. ...
Read More »Boise software firm lands government contracts 
Boise-based software firm MobileDataforce recently received contracts from Canyon County and the city of Los Angeles. Read a profile of MobileDataforce here. MobileDataforce makes software that allows users to fill out forms from the field on handheld devices ...
Read More »A mighty wind blows in the Legislature 
The House Revenue and Taxation Committee just unanimously approved House Bill 189 that would do away with the personal property tax paid by wind energy producers. Rep. George Eskridge said the bill would level the tax revenue from those ...
Read More »Personal property tax bill moves forward 
It’s on – legislation that would phase out the personal property tax has just been allowed by a House committee. A bill will be printed and assigned to committee, the first official step in the Idaho legislative process. “The ...
Read More »Micron software bill cleared for vote in Idaho House 
According to the sponsors, House Bill 186 will negate the effect of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act. Software licenses would be governed by Idaho law instead of the computer transactions act. The House State Affairs Committee voted to send ...
Read More »Carpenters’ union pickets Harley-Davidson 
Carpenters’ union members are standing in front of High Desert Harley-Davidson in BoDo, handing out neon yellow flyers with grainy pictures of Kim Jong-Il, Fidel Castro, and Dave Thomas, the owner of the Treasure Valley Harley dealership. “Which of ...
Read More »A bit of Legislative theater 
The Idaho House just shot down an effort by Rep. Brandon Durst, D-Boise, to attach an amendment to a community college bill, and Durst about got himself kicked off the floor in the process. Durst wanted the full House ...
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