A Boise man is suing the state, asking Idaho’s highest court to put him back on the primary ballot as a state Senate candidate. Democrat Matt Yost planned to run for the District 15 Senate seat against incumbent Republican Senator John Andreason. But Yost was disqualified by the Secretary of State’s office after learning that he wasn’t a registered voter in the district for a full year before filing to run. Secretary of State Ben Ysursa maintains that the state Constitution requires the one-year registration prior to running. But Yost, who was a registered voter in Gooding before he made the move, believes that interpretation is wrong. With the primary election next month, Yost says he wants the Idaho Supreme Court to intervene as soon as possible.
(AP)

Idaho’s first methadone-maintenance clinic has opened in Meridian to help people with drug addictions maintain productive lives. The Center for Behavioral Health opened earlier this month and has 10 patients so far. The center helps addicts by allowing them to use methadone with the goals of eventually weaning them off opiates. Previously, Idaho patients were forced to drive to methadone clinics in Ontario, Oregon and Ogden, Utah, because the state had banned such clinics. Idaho lawmakers changed the law during the 2007 Legislative session at the request of the center’s owners, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, and the Idaho state Board of Pharmacy. Idaho Drug Czar Debbie Field had also asked for the change, saying the clinic would offer a brighter future for people who are recovering from addictions. (AP)

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has vetoed the only measure that lawmakers approved this year to eliminate an existing tax break. 

The measure sought to repeal a 5 percent tax credit for research activities by businesses.  However, Otter says it was “inconsistent” to repeal the break at the same time that Idaho’s enacting new tax relief for businesses from the property tax on business equipment. 

Repealing the research credit would have gained the state $1.4 million in tax revenue. 

The bill was one of just two that passed after a summer interim legislative committee recommended a sweeping review of dozens of Idaho’s existing tax breaks to see if they’re still appropriate - the House tax committee refused to consider reviewing most of them. 

Two other tax break repeals did clear the House committee this year.  One, for broadband investments, was pulled back by its sponsor before the full House could vote on it.  The other passed, but it was for a never-used incentive that had been designed to benefit the Albertson’s grocery store chain. 

(Spokesman-Review)

Idaho Governor Butch Otter says the recently adjourned legislative session in Boise was a mixed bag of good and bad. The governor was unsatisfied with the failure by lawmakers to make progress in working to fund the state’s $240 million shortfall in future transportation needs. Otter blamed a revenue downturn for sideswiping his plan to increase state worker salaries as well as scholarships for college students. Otter also expressed disappointment in himself, saying he could have done a better job of communicating his message with Republican members of the legislature. The governor says the nearly 3 month-long session did produce good results. He lauded the deal reached to increase the rebates on grocery taxes and was pleased that differences on north Idaho field burning were settled.

The Idaho Senate and House have come to an initial agreement on how much of a break to give businesses on the tax they pay on equipment, paving the way for an expected end to the legislative session on Wednesday. 

The agreement was hammered out in a special conference committee made up of three senators and three House members. 

The new bill exempts the first $100,000 of equipment in each county for businesses and does not go into effect unless state revenues grow by 5 percent. 

The House and Senate must still vote on the compromise, but the bill is expected to pass.

Gov. Butch Otter has sweetened an offer to trim Idaho state government retirees from the state medical plan, as the measure was debated in the House Affairs Committee. 

Otter is now offering a subsidy of $185 a month, up from $155, as part of an effort to get the House to sign off on the plan aimed at reducing Idaho’s unfunded medical liability that’s now at $442 million. 

Democrats favor waiting a year before changes are made, to better inform retirees of changes.

The Idaho House has approved minor Senate amendments in giving final legislative approval to a plan rejecting federal REAL ID driver’s licenses until changes are made that satisfy Gov. Butch Otter. 

Pushed after the Sept. 11 attacks, REAL ID driver’s licenses were meant to help stop terrorists and illegal immigrants. 

However, Idaho has joined Maine, New Hampshire, Montana and South Carolina in arguing that it will cost millions to make the switch and puts residents’ personal information at risk of theft. 

Still, states that reject REAL ID fear their residents could be singled out for an extra scrutiny at airports and federal buildings. 

Previously, Idaho received an extension to comply with the federal act until December 2009, rather than this May.

A plan allowing Idaho developers to organize special tax districts to sell bonds to pay for roads, bridges and sewers has passed the Legislature and is headed for Gov. Butch Otter’s desk. 

The Senate voted 29-4 for the plan, which has been fought by the city of Boise as an agent of urban sprawl since an earlier version was introduced in 2004. 

Sen. Stan Bastian, R-Eagle, who had opposed the original bill, supports the new version, in part because it forbids developers from using bond revenue to finance curbside amenities within a subdivision. 

Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, sees the measure as helping developers pay for their projects, without shifting the costs to others outside the subdivision.