IDAHO ELECTIONS – Labrador unseats Minnick; other federal incumbents retain...
Republican Raul Labrador has unseated incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick in the race for Idaho’s 1st Congressional District seat. With all 961 precincts reporting, Labrador received 51 percent...
View ArticleIdaho highways unlikely to see funding increase in 2011
Governor Butch Otter will not seek any new money for Idaho roads in the upcoming legislative session, following the final recommendations of his transportation task force. Otter assembled the 15-member...
View ArticleNorthern Rockies wolf talks continue, but conclusions yet to be made
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and governors from three Northern Rockies states resumed negotiations Thursday to remove the region’s wolves from the endangered list, but reached no conclusions. Western...
View ArticleWestern governors discuss water right issues
Governors from the nation’s western states sparred over water rights Tuesday during the start of a 2-day policy conference in Las Vegas designed to drive consensus. Water conservation and efficiency...
View ArticleOtter speaks out on why wolf delisting propsal failed
Governor Butch Otter says talks over lifting federal protections from Northern Rockies gray wolves stalled last Monday on several points, in particular a mandate for Idaho to maintain 500 to...
View ArticleOtter recommends cuts to Medicaid in State of the State Address
Idaho Republican Governor Butch Otter delivered his State of the State speech and recommended cutting more than $35 million in spending from state agencies to help balance Idaho’s budget next...
View ArticleOtter seeks to restore confidence in state tax commission
Governor Butch Otter is calling for reforms to the Idaho State Tax Commission just three days after his hand-picked chairman quit amid questions over ethics. Otter said during his State...
View ArticleOtter set to name new chairman of state tax commission
Governor Butch Otter is poised to name a new person to lead the Idaho State Tax Commission after his last hand-picked appointee quit while he was the target of ethics...
View ArticleCuldesac to be Idaho Capital For A Day
Governor Butch Otter has announced that Culdesac will be Idaho’s “Capital for a Day” on Wednesday, January 26th. Governor Otter brings State government to Idahoans living outside Boise each month...
View ArticleHouse Republicans say Otter’s budget may be too optimistic
Majority Republicans in Idaho’s House met behind closed doors to air their concerns that Governor Butch Otter’s proposed 2012 budget may be too optimistic. House Majority Caucus Leader Ken Roberts...
View ArticleOtter opposes privatization of Idaho liquor stores
Idaho’s chief executive doesn’t want the state’s liquor dispensary sold to the private sector. Governor Butch Otter says overseeing hard liquor is the proper role of government, since Idaho’s...
View ArticleIdaho lawmaker proposes selling empty governor’s mansion to aid parks department
A Boise Democrat wants to sell Idaho’s long-empty governor’s mansion to help fund the state parks system. Representative Grant Burgoyne says money tied up in the hilltop mansion does nothing...
View ArticleAUDIO: Otter signs fake drug bill into law
Idaho has officially become the latest state to ban fake marijuana and other chemicals meant to mimic drugs. Governor Butch Otter signed legislation into law Friday to curtail the use...
View ArticleGovernor Otter declines to take stance on upcoming wolf deal
Idaho Governor Butch Otter has decided against taking a formal stance on a settlement to allow public hunting of wolves in parts of the Northern Rockies. That’s according to Otter’s...
View ArticleOtter signs late-term abortion ban into law
Governor Butch Otter has signed legislation banning most abortions in Idaho 20 weeks after conception. Otter signed a bill Wednesday founded on the notion that a fetus in its 20th...
View ArticleEducation reform opponents say they have enough signatures to force referendum
Organizers of a bid to dump education and union reforms that recently passed the 2011 Idaho Legislature say they’ve gathered enough signatures to put three repeal measures on the November...
View ArticleWestern Governors discuss energy, fires: Gregoire named chair
Western state governors dealt with difficulties in building transmission lines to get the West’s abundant power generation resources to the rest of the nation at a meeting Thursday in Coeur...
View ArticleIdaho has $85 million surplus
A healthy share of Idaho’s $85 million 2011 budget surplus will go to offset taxes residents pay on food, but programs for the poor and disabled that saw a $108...
View ArticleOtter, lawmakers decide to accept federal money to help fund exchanges
Governor Butch Otter and many state lawmakers agree that Idaho would be shortsighted to pass up millions of federal dollars to help set up health insurance exchanges, because spurning the...
View ArticleOtter set to unveil state-backed fund for startups
Governor Butch Otter plans to unveil a state-backed investment fund for startup companies on Jan. 9, part of a plan for new technologies and research to bolster Idaho’s economy. The...
View ArticleIdaho likely to get federally operated insurance exchange
Idaho is likely to get a federally operated insurance exchange, not the state-based plan favored by Governor Butch Otter as recently as last year, because it’s unlikely his administration will...
View ArticleHewlett-Packard wins Idaho educational laptop computer program contract
State officials say they have awarded an 8-year, $180 million contract to Hewlett-Packard to supply Idaho high school students and teachers with laptop computers as part of the Students Come...
View ArticleOtter opts for state exchange
Governor Butch Otter has decided that a health insurance exchange designed and built by the state is the best option for Idaho under the federal government’s health care overhaul. Otter...
View ArticleState-run insurance exchange proposal clears first legislative hurdle in Boise
A bill proposed by Idaho Governor Butch Otter to create a state-run health insurance exchange has cleared an important legislative hurdle. The Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee agreed...
View ArticleIdaho forecasters predict slow tax revenue growth in 2014
Idaho’s budget-writing agency forecast that the state government’s general fund tax revenue will rise 2.1 percent to $2.8 billion in the current fiscal year as sales tax receipts and individual...
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