This is a summary of a few items in the Idaho Weekly Briefing for January 23. Interested in subscribing? Send us a note at stapilus@ridenbaugh.com.
Work settles in at the Idaho Legislature while winter weather rages outside the Statehouse dome. Local agencies start to struggle with the snowfall and the risk of flooding in some places.
Southern Idaho’s historic winter of 2016-2017, with record amounts of snow and cold temperatures, translates into higher electricity use for most Idaho Power customers.
Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have introduced legislation to establish an additional federal district judgeship in Idaho for the first time in more than sixty years. Idaho is one of only three states (North Dakota and Vermont are the others) with only two authorized judge seats for the entire state. In contrast, the Central District of California and the Southern District of New York each have 28 authorized judgeships. If passed, the Crapo-Risch legislation, S. 209, would add a third judge to the District of Idaho.
Heavy precipitation and cold temperatures in December and January have put the water supply for most of Idaho in a strong position for the coming summer irrigation season. While many river basins are well over 100 percent of normal, northern Idaho is lagging behind with only 69 percent of normal in the Panhandle, officials said at the Idaho Water Resource Board meeting this week.
Bose Mayor David Bieter said on January 27 that the City of Boise has been selected to participate in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities initiative – one of the largest-ever national philanthropic efforts to enhance the use of data and evidence in public sector decision-making.
A bipartisan coalition of western U.S. Senators has introduced two measures to benefit Americans exposed to airborne radiation during nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s and 1960s.
PHOTO Senator Jim Risch chaired the nomination hearing for President-elect Trump’s nominee to lead the Small Business Administration, Linda E. McMahon. In his opening remarks, Risch stated that one of the SBA’s most important duties is to “level the playing field for small businesses” who are being “strangled” by America’s current regulatory structure. (photo/Senator Risch)
