Category Archives: Uncategorized

How we pay for health care in this country is complex and distracting. I would like to describe a part of the picture here in Idaho. Don’t let it distract you. Idaho requires counties to pay for healthcare costs for … Continue reading →

Earlier this spring my daughter called me about health insurance. You see, we had added her to a policy we had with the state. I get state employee health insurance as a legislator. Prior to being elected we purchased individual … Continue reading →

Idaho has an Energy Plan . It was written in 2007 as a legislative response to a planned coal power plant in Southeast Idaho but its scope was broad. It is supposed to be updated every five years so the Energy, … Continue reading →

A friend sent me this.  It’s a damming piece on the Canadian Kearl oil sands and how multinational companies are destroying our environment. He was most upset about how our leaders, our Governor and our Senators and Representatives seemed to … Continue reading →

PURPA Sounds like a designer color, doesn’t it? It’s actually a federal program: Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act, and it has a big impact on the state of Idaho. Part of the joy of this job comes when I get … Continue reading →

Idaho wants citizen (read “part time”) legislators. We are paid part time and expected to live our lives in our districts when not in session.  I respect that. We have legislative session from the first Monday of the first full … Continue reading →

The clouds parted and the rain has stopped. Trees try to bud and crocuses spring forth. We are working long and hard to get bills through the session. We took a Friday noon break to get a picture of us … Continue reading →

It has been hard for me to find the heat in all the smoke surrounding this one. I expected to have an advantage understanding this, but maybe I am seeing too many subtleties. Peer review is a medical staff process … Continue reading →

I learn something new every day. Maybe those who have done this for years can see the bigger patterns, like sensing the storm when sniffing a wind shift. I am still immersed in reading each word of each bill and … Continue reading →

  We passed the “Bad Dog Bill” [SB1143] out of the Senate yesterday. I first saw it on the Agricultural Affairs Committee. The author, a veterinarian from here in Boise deserves a medal for perseverance and heroism. He donated two … Continue reading →