Idaho Legislative Update

[6speed]

I figured rather than posting to the different forums I would make this stuff easier to find.

S1283 The bill that allows for the sale of land owner tags was held today and is scheduled for its 3rd reading tomorrow.

S1256 The Governor Tag bill made it out of committee and its scheduled for the 2nd reading tomorrow.

 

[idnative1948]

Let us know what you hear if you hear. We have an ear to the ground also.

 

[6speed]

Senate live stream begins at 10 if I can get it to work on my phone I'll listen in. Otherwise we may not know until the end of the day.

 

[6speed]

S1305 The Siddoway wolf hunting bill that would allow the use of live bait and private aircraft to hunt wolves suspected of killing livestock is on the agenda to be heard by the Senate Resources and Environment committee this afternoon.

 

[6speed]

S1256 headed to 3Rd reading.

 

[6speed]

SJR 104 That would amend the state constitution and make hunting a right is also scheduled for its 3Rd reading.

 

[idnative1948]

S1283 on hold while Senator Crapo is speaking.

 

[idnative1948]

Tie ball game falled to pass and will be held.

 

[6speed]

Interesting comments. Siddoway says we are taking away the opportunity of land owners to participate. Senator Bair said land owner tags are meant to compensate landowners. He also made the comment that many land owners who qualify currently don't get tags. That solidifies the problem of more landowners getting tags when they have value.

1283 vote 17 for 17 against the bill fails.

Senators Werk, Stennett, and Broadsword spoke out against the bill. Senators Bracket and Bair spoke for it.

Access was a big sticking point so 1282 will probably have a better chance.

 

[idnative1948]

I was kind of surprised (not) that more farmers other than Steve Blair/28 didn't chime in. Other than him I didn't hear any crop damage figures and whether or not they have damage year in and year out.
What do you feel our next course of action is as sportsmen?

Interesting comments. Siddoway says we are taking away the opportunity of land owners to participate. Senator Bair said land owner tags are meant to compensate landowners. He also made the comment that many land owners who qualify currently don't get tags. That solidifies the problem of more landowners getting tags when they have value.

1283 vote 17 for 17 against the bill fails.

Senators Werk, Stennett, and Broadsword spoke out against the bill. Senators Bracket and Bair spoke for it.

Access was a big sticking point so 1282 will probably have a better chance.

 

[6speed]

What do you feel our next course of action is as sportsmen?

S1256 the Governors tag bill is headed to its 3rd reading.

Even after acknowledging the probability that if S1305 becomes law it may cause the USFWS to review our wolf management policy and could put our ability to manage and hunt wolves in Idaho in jeopardy. The committee passed the bill back to the floor.

My next course of action is to thank the senators who have helped, encourage them to keep up the good work and attempt to educate enough of the rest to stop messing with our wildlife.

 

[idnative1948]

AYES and NAYS


S1283 by RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE

FISH AND GAME - CONTROLLED HUNT TAGS - Amends existing law relating to fish and game to provide that any landowner issued a Landowner Appreciation Program controlled hunt tag may sell the tag to another person.

02/02 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing

02/03 Rpt prt - to Res/Env

02/13 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg

02/14 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg

02/22 3rd rdg - FAILED - 17-17-1
AYES -- Andreason, Bair, Brackett, Cameron, Darrington, Fulcher, Hammond, Heider, Lodge, McKague, McKenzie, Mortimer, Nuxoll, Pearce, Siddoway, Vick, Winder
NAYS -- Bilyeu, Bock, Broadsword, Corder, Davis, Goedde, Hill, Johnson, Keough, LeFavour, Malepeai, Schmidt, Smyser, Stennett, Tippets, Toryanski, Werk
Absent and excused -- McGee
Floor Sponsor - Siddoway
Filed in Office of the Secretary of Senate

 

[6speed]

One down several to go.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Outstanding work guys!

 

[IdahoHombre]

Here here!

 

[JoseCuervo]

It failed because one of the GOP'ers was a bit busy today, resigning in disgrace....

Idaho Senate Republican Caucus Chairman John McGee of Caldwell resigned Wednesday, ending a promising political career that once held prospects of higher office, including Congress and governor.

McGee resigned Wednesday after allegations of sexual harassment involving a Senate staffer, who is not a minor, Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill said. The attorney general is reviewing the case, said Hill, R-Rexburg.

"Sen. John McGee does not admit any wrongdoing," Hill said.

Hill said he told McGee that he would convene an ethics committee to investigate if McGee did not resign. Shortly after noon Wednesday, Hill said, McGee hand-delivered his letter of resignation, writing, "It has been my pleasure and my honor to serve the citizens of District 10 in the Idaho State Senate for the past eight years. I appreciate and am grateful for the opportunity and treasure the association with you and our colleagues."

McGee also sent Gov. Butch Otter a resignation letter. He did not reply to requests for comment Wednesday. The four-term lawmaker was in his second year as the Senate GOP's No. 4 leader.

After a 30-minute caucus with the 27 Senate Republicans, Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, described his feelings in one word: "Heartsick."

Hill, in his second year as pro tem, first made his name in the Senate as chairman of the ethics committee that ultimately prompted the resignation of Sen. Jack Noble in 2005.

"In this situation, my first priority is to ensure a safe, secure and professional work environment for Senate employees," Hill said. "My second priority is to protect the integrity and institution of the Idaho State Senate."

Hill and Davis said the attorney general's review will continue even though McGee has resigned. Davis, a lawyer, said he could not comment on whether criminal conduct could be ruled out.

Hill said he and Davis were advised of a confidential allegation of harassment on Saturday. On Monday, Secretary of the Senate Jennifer Novak urged the woman to report the claims to Hill. Also on Monday, Hill, Davis and Novak met with the woman, who reported the alleged misconduct to the leaders.

McGee was absent from the Senate's floor session Wednesday, missing a vote on a wolf-hunting bill that died on a 17-17 vote.

McGee had earlier appeared to dodge a career-ending mistake after his Father’s Day arrest for DUI and a felony charge for stealing an SUV and crashing it in a driveway near his parents’ home in Meridian.

In a plea bargain just 12 days after his arrest, McGee pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI, sparing him a felony conviction that would have forced him from the Senate. He paid about $12,000 restitution for damage he did to the SUV, a trailer and a swing set.

McGee, 39, became an object of derision on newspaper websites and blogs, where he was taunted as “Fibber McGee,” and derided for his drunken statement that he was seeking “the Promised Land,” and for losing his flip flops on a 6 1/2-mile trip from Hillcrest Country Club to the crash site.

McGee survived a vote Jan. 11, with a majority of the 27-member GOP caucus voting to keep him in his leadership post as Republican caucus chair.

McGee refused to talk to reporters until the Legislature convened in early January. Breaking his silence in order to quell a rebellion in the GOP caucus, McGee said he couldn’t remember how he covered such a distance or how the three or four gin-and-tonics he recalled drinking that night left him with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 percent, more than twice the legal limit.

McGee said his blackout lasted from the time he left the country club about 11 p.m. to about 3 a.m. when he was arrested. “It was this horrible realization,” McGee said. “Oh my God, I’m in the back of a police car.”

After McGee’s tearful apology behind closed doors, his Republican colleagues voted to retain him in leadership. But nine of the 28 Republicans took the rare step of breaking caucus secrecy nine days later, issuing a statement saying they wanted him out of leadership. Later, Hill said there were more than nine votes to remove McGee, who began his career as an aide to former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne.

McGee’s opponents continued to raise concerns that his remaining in a role as the spokesman for the Senate Republicans reflected badly on them and the Senate.

McGee told the Statesman in January that he was prepared to lose his leadership post, but hoped his colleagues would retain him. “As many sleepless nights as I’ve had since June, I’m at the point now where I have to let the chips fall where they may and hope that the caucus can continue to support me. I believe I can continue to be an effective spokesman.”

McGee is a former Senate Transportation Committee chairman who helped push through more than $800 million in highway bonds, including about $500 million spent in the Treasure Valley, principally on I-84.

McGee said his wife, Hanna, have two pre-school-aged children. McGee works as a spokesman for West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell.

REPLACING MCGEE

Gov. Butch Otter will select someone to complete the last 10 months of McGee’s term.

The Canyon County District 10 Republican precinct committee will have 15 days to provide Otter with three possible replacements for McGee’s seat.

Otter will have 15 days to chose from them, meaning the seat could be open for the remainder of the legislative session.

 

[idnative1948]

And you are trying to say what? This is OLD news..

 

[JoseCuervo]

And you are trying to say what? This is OLD news..

Yeah, old news as in the vote was THIS morning that McGee missed because he was resigning THIS afternoon.


But, if you want to call that OLD news, more power to you.

If McGee wouldln't have been busy resigning, he would likely have voted to PASS this law.

 

[monthunter]

The drunken driving may be old news but the resignation for sexual harassment is not old news. And the drunken driving is not old news for everyone. Seems like a case of shooting the messenger. It's not our fault (GOP) but the people who tell everyone about it.

 

[6speed]

The article in bold is incorrect the bill had nothing to do with wolves. I'm much less worried about the party affiliation of a guy who no longer has a vote and more worried about up coming legislation. Hopefully JC spends as much time writing to our legislature as he spends trying to instigate partisan augments on this site.