In what can only be characterized as one of the more bizarre moves of the 2013 legislative session, House Education Committee Vice-Chair Pete Nielsen (R-Mt. Home) began the Wednesday morning meeting by telling committee members that they would need to reconsider HB 307, the bill that was killed by the committee on Tuesday on an 8-8 tie.
The bill, HB 307 would have required that 1.67 percent of the money set aside for teacher salaries be spent to add more staff or increase contract days.
Members of the Senate Education Committee voted Monday to send every bill on their agenda to the 14th Order for possible amendments. Decisions by the committee on each of these pieces of legislation had been held until today’s meeting for a variety of reasons.
Will Idaho Become Next State to Adopt Tuition Tax Credits? According to the National Council of State Legislatures, 14 tuition tax credit programs exist in 11 states. Members of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee voted overwhelmingly to send HB 286 to the floor with a “do pass” recommendation. This action sets up the real…
Unlike Wednesday when House committees schedules were suspended to provide ample time for House members to debate whether to back a plan pushed by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter to use about $30 million in federal grants to build Idaho’s own insurance exchange, Thursday was a day packed with committee and House meetings. The House Education…