Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Blue Cross of Idaho submitted to Idaho insurance regulators a set of health insurance plans that it hopes to sell under Gov. Butch Otter's executive order. The Idaho Statesman reports Blue Cross submitted its five plans on Tuesday after the executive order required Idaho insurers to create "state-based" health plans that do not comply with the Affordable Care Act.
This year's legislative session seems to be moving at breakneck speed, with lots and lots going on; that certainly was true yesterday, and it is again today.
The state of Nebraska is strong and growing, according to Gov. Pete Ricketts . Hawaii, Vermont and Delaware are all strong, according to their Democratic governors.
More than 100 Idaho business leaders, ranging from high-tech CEOs to small-business owners to engineers, marketers and manufacturers, have signed a letter to Gov. Butch Otter and the Idaho Legislature calling for the repeal of a 2016 noncompete law that sharply limits the rights of employees who move to new firms. The law , which passed both houses by divided votes amid much controversy, took effect July 1, 2016.
Gov. Butch Otter's higher education task force today adopted 12 recommendations in a series of 12 unanimous votes, Idaho EdNews reports. Among them: Rewriting and resetting the "60 percent goal," extending it out for another five years in an effort to be more realistic and effective in the move to get more Idahoans into higher education; an increased emphasis on internships, apprenticeships and workplace-campus co-op programs that partner with industry; a statewide "digital campus" that task force members view as a "game-changer;" and more money for college scholarships.
After Idaho Gov. Butch Otter vetoed a popular bill to remove the state's 6 percent sales tax from groceries, North Idaho Sen. Steve Vick is renewing his push to change the Idaho Constitution to allow lawmakers to reconvene to override a veto that's issued after they adjourn for the year. "It's not uncommon, it's not some sort of strange idea," said Vick, R-Dalton Gardens.
Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has decided not to follow in Republican Idaho Gov. Butch Otter's footsteps and has instead made the correct choice to help protect the property rights of its citizens. Ducey has just signed into law a bill that should seriously restrict the ability of law enforcement officers in Arizona to abuse the process of civil asset forfeiture as a way of generating revenue rather than fighting crime.
Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, led a group of legislative budget writers who crafted the public school budget that won approval in the Idaho Legislature's joint budget committee on Monday morning, Feb. 27, 2017, With no disagreement on the final divisions of the public school budget, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has now set the public schools budget for next year at $2.041 billion, a 6.3 percent increase in state general funds. Gov. Butch Otter had called for a 6.4 percent increase.
Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, arguing for his motion for the Operations Division of the public school budget, said he believes the public school budget needs a line item for health insurance costs. "More and more districts are saying that they need a line item," he said.
The Weiser River in Weiser, Idaho, overflowed early Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, flooding areas south of the river near Cove and Couper roads with ice and water. The Weiser River overflowed early Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, flooding areas south of the river near Cove and Couper roads with ice and water.
Might Idaho Gov. Butch Otter be considered for interior secretary in a Trump administration? Idaho Statesman reporter Rocky Barker explored the possibilities in a column over the holiday; you can read it here . Two previous Idaho governors were appointed secretary of the interior Cecil Andrus under President Jimmy Carter, and Dirk Kempthorne under President George W. Bush.