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The Idaho Legislature is the place where laws are made that affect every resident of the Gem State. Each year, 105 lawmakers gather at the Idaho Statehouse in Boise for three or four months to make the important decisions regarding everything from taxes to education to health and welfare.Each week during the 2017 session, we’ll update you on what’s happening in the legislature. We’ll follow bills as they work their way through the Stateshouse to become laws. We’ll take a look behind the scenes at what lawmakers are doing and what it means to you. And we’ll put it all in a broader context, as we examine what other state legislatures are doing around the country.We’ll chat with Gary Moncrief, who has years of experience with state legislatures in the U.S. and Idaho’s lawmakers. He’s a University Distinguished Professor of Political Science (Emeritus) at Boise State University. He is a frequent speaker at meetings of state legislators around the country and is the coauthor or editor of six books, including the new second edition of WHY STATES MATTER, available in February of 2017. So tune in to our 2017 Weekly Legislative Update every Friday morning at 6:44 a.m. and 8:44 a.m. on KBSX 91.5.

Legislative Update: 2017 Idaho Session Officially Over

A photo of the Idaho Statehouse with snow on the ground.
Charlie Litchfield
/
AP

The Idaho Legislature closed up shop and went home Wednesday. The session went five days longer than leadership had anticipated.

The session was notable for a few bills, including transportation funding and tax cuts, which were sticking points at the end of the session. Lawmakers also didn’t find a solution for the 78,000 Idahoans who fall in the Medicaid gap and don’t have health insurance.

Personality conflicts were a recurring theme this session, especially in the Idaho House. GOP leadership clashed with a small group of conservative Republican lawmakers, many of them freshmen.

Boise State University Professor Gary Moncrief watched the session from gavel to gavel. In this 2017 Legislative Wrap Up, he talks about how things turned out.

Moncrief says to watch Governor Butch Otter, to see if he vetoes the removal of the six percent tax on groceries.

Find Samantha Wright on Twitter @samwrightradio

Copyright 2017 Boise State Public Radio

As Senior Producer of our live daily talk show Idaho Matters, I’m able to indulge my love of storytelling and share all kinds of information (I was probably a Town Crier in a past life!). My career has allowed me to learn something new everyday and to share that knowledge with all my friends on the radio.

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