Idaho
Abortion, school funding, 'library porn' expected to resurface at Idaho capitol
Idaho legislative leaders say we should expect a sort of re-run of issues for this year’s session.
House Speaker Mike Moyle (R-Star) told reporters Thursday morning that lawmakers have been trying to clarify Idaho’s ban on most abortions.
Currently, mothers can only terminate a pregnancy when their life is threatened – not when her health or future fertility is threatened.
“There’s been more movement, though, to work together this last summer as those discussions have carried on,” said Moyle. “Sometimes, when you have a difficult issue like that it takes time to find those solutions.”
Other exceptions allowing women to abort their fetus are when a pregnancy stems from rape or incest.
A lawsuit challenging Idaho’s abortion ban is currently progressing through state court.
Moyle said legislators are also working to potentially revive a committee that studies deaths of the state’s pregnant women. Lawmakers declined to renew last year leaving Idaho as the only state in the country that didn’t have some sort of maternal mortality review panel.
Other issues expected for the upcoming session include bans on “obscene” materials in public libraries and initiatives allowing parents to use taxpayer money for private school tuition.
“I think we’ve seen really great movement in that in this state over the last couple years,” said Sen. Lori Den Hartog (R-Meridian).
She sponsored a bill last year to create a pilot program that would’ve funneled taxpayer dollars to paying for private schools. It passed the Senate, but it failed to gain traction in a House committee.
Assistant House Minority Leader Lauren Necochea (D-Boise) said Democrats would stand firm in opposing such ideas. Instead, Necochea said, that money should go toward addressing the significant backlog of public school facility maintenance that totals more than $800 million.
“We don’t have really a dime to spare, let alone the millions that could be gobbled up by a voucher scheme,” she said.
Gov. Brad Little gave a short preview of his priorities for the upcoming legislative session Thursday morning as well. He dedicated about half an hour for talking about the significant demand facing his signature Idaho Launch tuition grant program.
Legislators narrowly approved the initiative last year, which gives graduating high school seniors up to $8,000 for in-demand career training – whether that be at colleges and universities or private trades programs.
As of Jan. 3, 11,482 students have submitted applications to receive these grants.
State officials said not all of them will be funded, due to high demand. Lawmakers allocated $75 million toward Idaho Launch.
“A year ago, we didn’t’ know whether we would use the whole [$75 million], but it sure looks like we’re going to need the whole [$75 million] right now,” Little said.
He declined to say whether his proposed budget includes additional funding for the program. Because of that high demand, state officials will begin prioritizing recipients based on a list of in-demand careers approved by Idaho’s Workforce Development Council last September.
The top three career choices submitted by applicants are healthcare technicians, nursing and engineering. Efforts to expand Idaho Launch could run into opposition at the capitol, where many conservatives view it as a bloated government handout.
Lawmakers reconvene in Boise to kick off the session on Monday when Little gives his state of the state address.
Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio
Idaho
Idaho resolution opposing same-sex marriage advances
For the second year in a row, House lawmakers will consider urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
The nonbinding resolution, which carries no legal weight, says the decision in Obergefel v. Hodges violates the longstanding religious definition of marriage between one man and one woman.
“The current definition of marriage that allows for same-sex marriages is a defilement of the word marriage,” said Rep. Tony Wisniewski (R-Post Falls), who sponsors the measure.
The resolution further states that the Obergefel decision “arbitrarily and unjustly” rejects the historical definition of marriage.
Idaho voters passed a constitution amendment in 2006 that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, which was invalidated by the Obergefel ruling.
Wisniewski said regulating marriages should be a power left to the states.
Rep. Brent Crane (R-Nampa) agrees.
“If you want to get things … closer to the people with respect to some of these more complex social issues, I think the best place for those things to happen is in the states,” Crane said.
Doing so is a risk, he said.
“You may have states that choose to acknowledge [polyamorous relationships]. You may have states that choose to have relationships between adults and younger children,” Crane said.
Cities in neighboring Oregon and Washington, for example, are considering giving those in polyamorous relationships legal recognition.
But he said that risk is worth it to allow other states that choose to only recognize traditional marriages.
Four lawmakers on the House State Affairs Committee opposed the resolution.
Rep. Erin Bingham (R-Idaho Falls) said she’s tried to balance her own religious beliefs with those of others while considering the measure.
“I do feel like that it is important for us to work together, to find ways to compromise and to live together in peace and mutual respect,” Bingham said.
The resolution now goes to the House floor for consideration.
House lawmakers last year passed a similar measure, but it never received a hearing in a Senate committee.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
Idaho
University of Idaho professor awarded $10M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders
A University of Idaho professor won a $10 million judgment after a tarot TikTok influencer publicly pushed false claims that she was behind the savage quadruple slayings of four college students.
A Boise jury in US District Court ordered fortune-telling Texas TikToker Ashley Guillard on Friday to pay $10 million after concluding she falsely accused professor Rebecca Scofield of having a secret romance with one of the four victims and orchestrating their killings, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Following the verdict, Scofield thanked the jury and said she hopes the case sends a clear warning that making “false statements online have consequences in the real world.”
“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.
“Today’s decision shows that respect and care should always be granted to victims during these tragedies. I am hopeful that this difficult chapter in my life is over, and I can return to a more normal life with my family and the wonderful Moscow community.”
Scofield, the university’s history department chair, filed the lawsuit in December 2022 — just weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were brutally stabbed to death at an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
Guillard began uploading videos to her more than 100,000 TikTok followers in late November 2022, accusing Scofield of a secret relationship with one of the students and claiming she had “ordered” the killings, garnering millions of views across the social media platform.
The complaint states that Scofield had never met the victims and was out of state when the murders occurred.
Even after being served with cease-and-desist letters and after police publicly confirmed Scofield had no connection to the murders, the Houston-based tarot reader continued posting videos, the history professor’s legal team argued.
Guillard doubled down on her accusations against Scofield after being sued, posting a defiant video saying, “I am not stopping,” and challenging why Scofield needed three lawyers to sue her “if she’s so innocent.”
The professor’s legal team argued the defamatory accusations painted her as a criminal and accused her of professional misconduct that could derail her career.
Bryan Kohberger, then studying criminology at Washington State University, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the quadruple murders in a deal that took the death penalty off the table. He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences in Idaho.
In June 2024, Chief US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco found Guillard’s statements legally defamatory, leaving damages to be decided by a jury.
During the damages trial, Scofield described the anguish of seeing her name tied to the murders online, the Idaho Statesman reported.
However, Guillard, acting as her own attorney, insisted her comments were simply beliefs based on tarot card readings.
She claimed to have psychic powers and testified that she relied on tarot cards to try to solve the shocking homicides that shook the rural college town and sparked global attention.
It took jurors less than two hours to return their verdict, the outlet reported.
The jury awarded Scofield $7.5 million in punitive damages in addition to $2.5 million in compensatory damages.
With Post wires
Idaho
Gas prices expected to exceed $3 as the Iran conflict prompts supply shortages
BOISE, Idaho — AAA is warning Idaho gas consumers that pump prices will likely rise as the conflict in Iran disrupts oil and gas supply chains worldwide.
The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East will likely push the price for a gallon of regular gasoline past the $3 mark over the coming days.
“On one hand, the crude oil market had time to account for some financial risk in the Middle East as forces mobilized, but a supply shortage somewhere affects the global picture,” says AAA Idaho public affairs director Matthew Conde. “If tankers can’t move products through the region, there could be ripple effects.”
On Monday, March 2, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.97, reports AAA, which is 12 cents more expensive than it was a month ago but 20 cents less than this time last year.
State / Price: 1 gallon of regular gasoline
- Washington / $4.37
- Oregon / $3.92
- Nevada / $3.70
- Idaho / $2.97
- Colorado / $2.89
- Montana / $2.82
- Utah / $2.74
- Wyoming / $2.73
In terms of the most expensive fuel in the nation, Idaho currently ranks #14. However, buying a gallon of regular gas in neighboring states such as Oregon and Washington could cost a whole dollar more. In contrast, gas prices in Utah, Montana, and Wyoming are anywhere between 15 to 24 cents cheaper than fuel in the Gem State.
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