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  • What Did Lawmakers Do With Elections This Year?

    Election security and voter integrity have been at the top of lawmakers’ minds for several years, and this session was no different. Secretary of State Phil McGrane joined the show on Friday to run through which bills passed, which failed, and what voters need to know when they head to the polls. Lawmakers passed a…

  • Idaho Statesman & ProPublica: Collapsing Roofs, Broken Toilets, Flooded Classrooms

    Republished under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with the Idaho Statesman. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive ProPublica stories like this one in your inbox. Collapsing Roofs, Broken Toilets, Flooded Classrooms: Inside the…

  • Podcast Episode: Sorting Out Surrogacy Rights

    The state of Idaho has become a thriving place for surrogacy, largely due to the fact that it did not have any laws governing the practice and allowed the industry to operate without any regulation. Last week, Gov. Brad Little signed a bill by Rep. Brooke Green, D-Boise, Rep. Dori Healey, R-Boise, and Rep. Bruce…

  • Panhandle hospital to no longer offer labor and delivery care

    Citing staffing issues and political climate, Bonner hospital will no longer deliver babies by Kelcie Moseley-Morris, Idaho Capital Sun March 17, 2023 Idaho’s Bonner General Health, the only hospital in Sandpoint, announced Friday afternoon that it will no longer provide obstetrical services to the city of more than 9,000 people, meaning patients will have to…

  • Bill to grant driving authority to unauthorized immigrants sent back to committee

    By Samantha Martinez, Idaho Reports  The Senate sent a bill that would grant driving authority for unauthorized immigrants back to the State Affairs Committee.   The move came without debate or objection. It isn’t yet clear if the Senate will take up the bill before the end of the session.  Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, introduced Senate…

  • House Education previews ESA bills, says no to SBOE elections

    Statehouse roundup, 2.28.23: Future ESA legislation prefaced in House committee Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on February 28, 2023 House Education Committee members heard presentations on three draft bills Tuesday morning, all with the same goal — to establish education savings accounts. Each draft would siphon money into accounts for tuition or fees at nonpublic K-12…

  • Podcast Episode: Ensuring Opportunities to Vote

    Election bills are surfacing this legislative session on many topics, from voter identification and absentee ballots to safety at the polls. Secretary of State Phil McGrane sat down with producer Ruth Brown on Tuesday afternoon to walk through some of the bills moving around the statehouse, and his priorities as the state’s chief elections officer.…

  • Choices for Parents…

    This week, Logan Finney sits down the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Dave Lent, and committee member Sen. Lori Den Hartog to talk about the $45 million dollar education savings account bill that made it through the committee. Then, Kevin Richert of Idaho Education News and Kaye Thornbrugh of the Coeur d’Alene Press…

  • Financial literacy bill passes House Education

    by Samantha Martinez, Idaho Reports The House Education Committee passed a bill Wednesday that would require financial literacy to be a fundamental part of every public school student’s education in Idaho.  Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield proposed this bill with the intention of preparing Idaho’s high school graduates to…

  • EMS providers ask for state support

    by Idaho Reports staff Monday was EMS Day at the Capitol, and Idaho Reports caught up with Wayne Denny, EMS Bureau Chief for the Department of Health and Welfare, to talk about emergency medical service goals for the session. “The way that Idaho code is written today, it hints at the fact that EMS is important,…

  • Podcast Episode: Hitting the Ground Running

    Idaho’s newly elected Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield joins host Melissa Davlin to discuss her budget presentation to JFAC this week, priorities for the legislative session, combatting pandemic learning loss, and the ongoing school choice debate. Editor’s note: This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity. Melissa Davlin, Idaho Reports: I wanted to ask…

  • Podcast Episode: A New Chair with Rep. Bruce Skaug

    Producer Ruth Brown sits down with Rep. Bruce Skaug, the new chairman of the House Judiciary, Rules & Administration Committee, to discuss the issues that will come before the committee this session, which range from execution procedures and judicial appointments to gender-affirming care for transgender minors and mandatory minimums for drug crimes. Editor’s note: This…