Other states weigh in on health care overhaul debate

Politico has a piece penned by attorney generals from other states that have chosen to not sue the feds over the health care overhaul legislation that has passed. It’s a different stance from Idaho, where Gov. Butch Otter and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden are in agreement that a lawsuit is needed to preserve state’s rights.

To read to the piece, visit here.

Sine die

Lawmakers are home now. To read a story about the governor’s press conference wrapping up the session, visit here.

A late-night adjournment

Legislators are expecting to wrap up the session tonight after marathon meetings to approve final bills.

It would mean a 78-day session, much shorter than last year’s session of 117 days. For lawmakers, it’s no great surprise. They came to Boise knowing that with the budget shortfall, there would be little time for other bills that would bring sweeping new policy changes or costly programs to the state.

And unlike the 2009 session, there was no gridlock between the governor’s office and legislators. The issue last year was a proposal pushed by Gov. Butch Otter for road improvements.

And in 2009, last-minute federal stimulus money made reopening the state budget and appropriating the dollars necessary.

A full belly and lots of work to finish

Lawmakers are plowing through bills in the Senate and House floor today, where they’ll be until at least 3 p.m.

It was unclear earlier whether legislators will wrap up today or go into next week. Dozens of bills still remain and legislators thus far have been circumspect on whether they’ll be out of here today.

Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis ended the mystery on the Senate floor, saying that senators will adjourn at 3 p.m. until Monday.  He stressed the need for not rushing the process and making mistakes, pointed out that aides have worked until 11 p.m. last night.

Davis readily admitted he wasn’t in the Capitol at 11 p.m., though, saying that at the time he was “fast asleep with a full belly.”

Candidates are lining up….

Nearly every district in south-central Idaho has a contested race, according to candidate filings available on Friday, the deadline to enter.

The race for retiring Sen. Clint Stennett’s seat is the most crowded, with five candidates running. To read the full story, visit here.

Sportsmen secrecy bill clears Senate committee

A bill that would make all identification information a secret that cannot be obtained through a public records request passed the Senate Resources and Environment Committee today.
It drew opposition from only two senators, Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, and Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise.
The bill — hotly debated at times — comes from hunters who complained that they were identified and contacted following the state’s wolf hunt.

But openness advocates, including the Idaho Press Club and Idaho Allied Dailies, argued that the bill will whittle away at transparent government, which is in charge of managing natural resources.

Other arguments against the bill:
_ It takes away the ability of citizens to check up on a potential poacher’s license status before deciding to report the person to authorities.
_ It takes away the public’s ability to see if tags awarded through lottery systems are properly awarded — or simply going to family members of fish and game commissioners.
_ It takes away the right of citizens and media to check up on elected officials and candidates for office who claim to be avid hunters or anglers. (The bill allows records to be released only with their written permission.)

There was an interesting argument that a constituent wrote lawmakers before their vote: Hunters might be burglarized and have their guns stolen if their information is available.
There’s a couple things to consider with that, though.
First, home addresses of sportsmen licenses are currently not a public record and would not be released anyway. Also, Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale and the bill’s sponsor, was contacted by a hunter who’s so worried about harassment that he sleeps with a pistol at his side.
That alone should give any burglar pause before deciding to break into a hunter’s home.

Legislative updates

Here’s the latest out of Boise:

The sportsmen secrecy bill gets a hearing, but no final decision yet on the Senate side of the Legislature. It appears that at least one Idaho hunter goes to bed at night with a pistol because he fears harassment.

A 27-page urban renewal bill has been introduced in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee.  If passed, it would dramatically change urban renewal in Idaho.

Please don’t harass me …. I’m a hunter

The Senate Resources and Conservation Committee will hear this afternoon arguments from both sides about a bill that would keep records about hunting and fishing licenses and tags out of the public eye, including identification information.

It comes at the behest of wolf hunters, who have complained that they were harassed unfairly. On the other side of the debate is the argument that keeping the information under wraps contributes to the erosion of government openness and transparency.

Critics also argue that rather than trying to keep records under wraps, a better route would be to target harassing specifically, not the records.

I don’t know how many wolf lovers out there want to harass hunters, but considering that this is Idaho, the hunters probably outnumber them by far.

It’s also interesting to note that there’s another bill to keep police officers’ address information confidential, including documents like house deeds and titles that would be considered a public record for everyone else.

The two bills do have one thing in common.  They are crafted based on the premise that those most skilled in firearms and prevailing against attackers –  police officers and hunters — need a bit more privacy and protection from harassment than everyone else.