Idaho Reports

Senate Majority Leader Lori Den Hartog, Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, and Sen. Ben Adams share their views on the session. Then, Kevin Richert of Idaho Education News, James Dawson of Boise State Public Radio, and Dr. Jaclyn Kettler of Boise State University discuss Gov. Brad Little's first vetoes of the session, and what he still has left to sign.

With the explosive growth of massive data centers across the country, many Americans are convinced that artificial intelligence, and the infrastructure needed to run it, are what’s to blame for rising electric bills. And in some places, that’s true! But while Idaho doesn’t have the same caliber of data center incentives that a state like Virgina has, it’s still an appealing location to build a new data center – both for the relatively low cost of electricity, and for the state’s friendly business climate.

Two of the biggest resources that go into operating a data center are power — to run the computers — and water, to cool them down. Rep. Britt Raybould, R-Rexburg, sponsored House Bill 895, which if signed into law would encourage data centers in Idaho to use closed-loop water cooling systems and require evaporative cooling systems, which consume water, be regulated under existing water rights law.

Executive director Christine Tiddens of Idaho Voices for Children shares her concerns with proposed changes to the Idaho Child Care Program. Then, Sens. Doug Okuniewicz and James Ruchti share their thoughts on the waning days of the session. Finally, Toni Lawson of the Idaho Hospital Association discusses the short timeline Idaho has to spend $1 billion in Rural Health Transformation funding.

Lawmakers are sprinting toward adjournment, churning through policy bills as they work to finalize the state budget. This week, House Majority Caucus Chair Rep. Jaron Crane sits down with Logan Finney to discuss a bill on the way to the governor's desk that would require certain tech companies to turn off certain addictive design features on young Idahoans' social media profiles.

Lawmakers are itching to head home, but there’s still that pesky matter of balancing the state budget. Plus, reporter Whitney Bryen details her Investigate West series “Guarded by Predators” – a deeply reported investigation which revealed dozens of rarely prosecuted allegations against women’s prison guards at Idaho Dept. of Correction facilities – and what has happened since the story dropped.

In an analysis piece this week in Idaho Education News, senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert wrote, “To put it mildly, Little deferred to the Legislature. To put it more accurately, he acquiesced to the Legislature. Again. As he has done repeatedly.” He sat down with Logan Finney this week to discuss the overall status of the higher education budgets, and what comes next before adjourning the session sine die.

Procedural pressures are boiling over, in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee and out on the open House and Senate chamber floors. We dive into the details with House Majority Leader Jason Monks, Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, Senate Education chairman Dave Lent, and Division of Financial Management administrator Lori Wolff to get a progress report on the legislative session.

Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological condition – a prion like mad cow disease or scrapie – that affects members of the deer and elk family, known as cervids or cervidae. In February, the Idaho Conservation League sent a letter to state lawmakers and the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, outlining concerns with documented biosecurity lapses at several domestic elk farms across the state, flagging the possibility of chronic wasting disease transmission between wild and domestic cervids. ICL Wildlife Program Associate Jeff Abrams sat down last week to discuss in depth. State Department of Agriculture Director Chanel Tewalt laid out ISDA’s view of the situation in a letter of her own that Friday responding to Abrams and ICL’s concerns, which Idaho Reports obtained through a public records request.

On Thursday, Gov. Brad Little, Attorney General Raúl Labrador, and Coeur d’Alene Tribal Chairman Chief Allen announced a historic water rights settlement after years of litigation. The agreement protects most existing water rights and protects water for future growth for north Idaho communities, while also protecting and retaining tribal authority for their water rights.