Idaho
Legislative Notebook: Idaho lawmakers consider pay raises for judges, 25,000 state employees • Idaho Capital Sun
In an effort to help Idahoans follow major bills, resolutions and memorials through the legislative process, the Idaho Capital Sun will produce a “legislative notebook” at the end of each week to gather information in one place that concerns major happenings in the Legislature and other news relating to state government.
Here is our quick rundown of the major happenings during the second week of the Idaho Legislature’s 2025 session.
Idaho Supreme Court chief justice gives the annual State of the Judiciary address
Chief Justice G. Richard Bevan went before the Idaho House of Representatives and the Idaho Senate on Wednesday to make the case for increasing pay for the state’s judicial branch.
Data released by the court this month showed that salaries for Idaho Supreme Court justices ranked 50th among the United States and its territories, according to a July 2024 survey published by the National Center for State Courts. Bevan, in his speech, said pay for Idaho district judges ranks 48th out of 53 states and territories.
Bevan said his concerns extend beyond paying judges a fair salary for their work. He said low pay, increased caseloads and the complexity of cases all place a great strain on the court system.
“Experienced judges are leaving office early,” Bevan said. “Experienced attorneys are less interested in replacing them.”
Just before the 2025 legislative session began, the Idaho Supreme Court released its official proposal for judges’ salary increases.
The proposed new wages for judges are:
- $215,000 per year, for Idaho Supreme Court justices, up from the current level of $169,508.
- $207,000 for a Court of Appeals judge, up from $161,508 currently.
- $201,000 for a district court judge, up from $155,508 currently.
- $193,000 for a magistrate judge, up from $147,508 currently.
The Idaho Legislature’s powerful budget committee, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, is the body that will ultimately decide on those proposals and send its recommendations on to the full Idaho House and Senate for consideration.
Proposals for pay increases for Idaho state employees hits a snag in budget committee
Pay increases for the judicial branch aren’t the only compensation for state employees that the budget committee will consider this year.
JFAC is also debating pay increases for Idaho’s 25,000 state employees, but those discussions devolved on Thursday and the committee didn’t take action on any of the considered proposals.
Some of the proposals considered included pay increases for teachers, others left teacher pay out completely, setting it aside for a separate decision at a later date. Some proposals included targeted pay increases for all IT and engineering staffers and others only included it for some IT and engineering staffers.
On Dec. 20, the Idaho Division of Human Resources recommended raises of 4% for state employees – saying turnover is an issue for the state and that state employees are so underpaid they all could go do the same job virtually anywhere else and be paid better.
In conjunction with his State of the State address, Gov. Brad Little recommended raises of 5% or $1.55 per hour for all state employees.
Last week, the Idaho Legislature’s Change in Employee Compensation Committee recommended raises of $1.55 per hour for all state employees. The Change in Employee Compensation Committee also recommended additional, targeted raises totaling 8% for Idaho State Police troopers, a 4.5% increase for IT and engineering staff and increases of $1.55 per hour or 3%, whichever is greater, for health care and nursing professionals.
JFAC did not set a new date to consider state employee pay, saying instead it will take up the pay increases later once more of the state’s financial projections have been analyzed.
Legislation of interest during the second week of the 2025 session
- House Bill 11: Sponsored by Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, the bill introduced Tuesday would replicate a 2023 Texas law creating a new immigration-related crime called illegal entry. The bill would allow local law enforcement officers to check the documentation status of individuals. The first instance of a person being discovered as unauthorized by law enforcement would result in a misdemeanor charge, and a second occurrence would lead to a felony charge and deportation. The bill may be taken up by the House State Affairs Committee in the coming days of the session.
- House Bill 10: Sponsored by Rep. Ted Hill, R-Eagle, the bill introduced Tuesday would ban flags or banners in Idaho public school classrooms that “represent a political viewpoint, including but not limited to flags or banners regarding a political party, race, sexual orientation, gender, or a political ideology.” The bill will be on the House’s third reading calendar on Monday. It will be heard by the full House in the coming days of the session.
- House Bill 7: The Idaho House State Affairs committee held a public hearing, which included two hours of testimony, on Wednesday on the bill that would implement a $300 minimum fine for adults possessing three ounces or less of marijuana. The committee voted 10-4 in favor of the bill and sent it to the full House floor for consideration with a recommendation that it pass. The bill will be on the House’s third reading calendar on Monday. It will be heard by the full House in the coming days of the session.
- Senate Bill 1004: Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, introduced the bill to add housing and workforce anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Idahoans. She introduced it as a personal bill, a legislative maneuver that doesn’t follow the traditional path of a bill being introduced by a legislative committee. Wintrow said she introduced the legislation, which would add the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Idaho Human Rights Act, as a personal bill because GOP leadership in the Legislature has refused – for a decade – to hold a hearing on the legislation. The bill has essentially no way forward in the GOP supermajority-dominated Legislature and has little chance of passing.
- Senate Bill 1001: Sponsored by Sen. Brian Lenney, R-Nampa, the anti-SLAPP (which stands for strategic lawsuits against public participation) bill introduced Monday aims to protect free speech and curtail frivolous lawsuits. The bill may be taken up by the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee for a full public hearing in the coming days of the session.
- Senate Bill 1002: Sponsored by Sen. Brandon Shippy, R-New Plymouth, the bill introduced Thursday would decrease the fee for seniors to obtain a driver’s license from $35 to $30. He sponsored the bill after a constituent told him that seniors pay a higher cost for a four-year driver’s license than the general adult population. The bill may be taken up by the Senate Transportation Committee for a full public hearing in the coming days of the session.
What to expect next week at the Idaho Statehouse
MLK Jr. Day celebration
The public is invited to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday at the Idaho Capitol Building in Boise. The event will feature guest speakers, dancers, singers and other performers from noon to 1 p.m. on the second floor of the Statehouse’s rotunda. Attendees are encouraged to bring donations for service projects to benefit Idaho organizations.
Idaho Senate confirmations
On Monday, multiple Idaho Senate committees will hold hearings for gubernatorial appointments and reappointments to state boards and commissions, including the reappointment of former legislator Shawn Keough to the State Board of Education, former legislator Luke Malek to the State Board of Correction and former legislator Marc Gibbs to the Idaho Water Resources Board. For a full list of the appointments to be considered, check out the full agendas for those committees online.
House Transportation and Defense Committee
On Monday, the committee is expected to hold a public hearing for House Bill 13, which would “establish an exemption for persons under eighteen years of age from the requirement to wear a helmet when riding in UTVs equipped with a roll cage and seat belts.”
Quote of the week
“My oncology teams have told me plenty of times that if they could legally allow me to use medicinal cannabis, they would, and it would be beneficial for my circumstances. ” – Jeremy Kitzhaber, a U.S. Air Force veteran with disabilities, in his public testimony opposing House Bill 7, noting marijuana would have been used to ease pain and stimulate his appetite when he lost more than 40 pounds during his 150 rounds of chemotherapy and treatments for stage four cancer
Social media post of the week
Biden’s Green New Deal is trying to saddle Idaho with 241 windmills on 100,000 acres. Luckily, Idaho has @realDonaldTrump and @DougBurgum on our side! Lava Ridge is living on borrowed time. pic.twitter.com/19BywhgqLm
— Jim Risch (@SenatorRisch) January 17, 2025
Photo of the week
How to follow the Idaho Legislature and Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s work during the session
Here are a few tools we use to track the Legislature’s business and how to let your voice be heard in the issues that matter most to you.
How to find your legislators: To determine which legislative district you live in, and to find contact information for your legislators within that district, go to the Legislative Services Office’s website and put in your home address and ZIP code. Once you’ve entered that information, the three legislators – two House members and one senator – who represent your district will appear, and you can click on their headshots to find their email address and phone number.
How to find committee agendas: Go to the Idaho Legislature’s website, legislature.idaho.gov, and click on the “all available Senate committee agendas” link and the “all available House committee agendas” link on the right side of the website.
How to watch the legislative action in committees and on the House and Senate floors: Idaho Public Television works in conjunction with the Legislative Services Office and the Idaho Department of Administration through a program called “Idaho in Session” to provide live streaming for all legislative committees and for the House and Senate floors. To watch the action, go to https://www.idahoptv.org/shows/idahoinsession/Legislature/ and select the stream you’d like to watch.
How to testify remotely at public hearings before a committee: To sign up to testify remotely for a specific committee, navigate to that committee’s webpage, and click on the “testimony registration (remote and in person)” tab at the top.
How to find state budget documents: Go to Legislative Services Office Budget and Policy Analysis Division’s website https://legislature.idaho.gov/lso/bpa/budgetinformation/.
How to track which bills have made it to Gov. Little’s desk and any action he took on them (including vetoes): Go to the governor’s website https://gov.idaho.gov/legislative-sessions/2025-session/. You can scroll down to the bottom of the site and enter your email address to get alerts sent straight to your inbox when the page has been updated.
Reporting from Idaho Capital Sun journalists Clark Corbin, Mia Maldonado and Kyle Pfannenstiel contributed to this legislative notebook.
We’re lucky to live in a place as safe as the Treasure Valley. Despite our growth, one of the things that makes our area so special is the way that we look out for one another–for our neighbors! That’s a principle that seems to have held on as Boise has boomed.
Despite low crime rates, there seems to always be one incident or so that makes us scratch our heads.
A recent string of fraud incidents in the Treasure Valley area is one of those.
Nampa Police initially warned the public of this because cases of fraud began to ‘mushroom’. Then, it took an interesting turn–people that HAD their credit cards were being ‘taken to the bank’, so to speak.
In a statement originally released on April 30th by the Nampa Police Department, officials advised the following:
We are not sure how the suspects are gaining access to the victim’s credit cards. There is a growing fraud scheme, “ghost tapping”, that scammers are using to access victims’ credit cards. This is possibly occurring in these instances. “Ghost tapping” uses stolen credit card details in Apple Pay or Google Pay, then remotely relays the tap signal over the internet to a ‘mule’ at a store, allowing them to make high-value purchases that appear completely legitimate. (We’ll share more information on ghost tapping in a later public service announcement that will also suggest ways to protect yourself.) The app used by these criminals obscures the actual credit card number, making it harder for investigators to link a victim to a particular crime. Keep in mind that victims still have their physical credit cards while suspects use the stolen card information to make purchases, which also affects how victims are alerted. So far, local investigators have not been able to identify a common theme among the victims (e.g., a specific bank, a website they visited, a gas pump they used, etc.) in the fraud cases we are investigating.
The investigation spans far and wide.
Authorities say that some suspects are in custody, others are being contacted, and others are still at large.
Now, a week later, the police are back to reaching out to the public–this time, urging people to check their bank accounts.
Nampa Police say that they have caught onto a pattern– there are fraudulent charges at Albertson’s to purchase gift cards, at Costco to purchase Apple products, and at Best Buy, also for Apple products.
Check those bank statements!
Inside The Arrest of 3 Venezuelan Fraudsters
What on earth was happening in Eagle this week?
Gallery Credit: Credit: Mateo, 103.5 KISS FM
It’s Not Hard To See Why This Idaho Police Photoshoot Is Going Viral
The Jerome Police Department is going viral thanks to Twin Falls photographer, Layton Henderson. Once you see the hilarious photos, you’ll see why!
Gallery Credit: Chris Cardenas
A powerful search engine that organizes and provides access to vast information on the internet.
The USDA has issued a public health alert for various meat and poultry products containing FDA-regulated dairy that may have been contaminated with salmonella. The recall was originally issued on April 30th, but the contaminated product list could continue to grow as more products are identified.
The Food Safety and Inspection arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the public health alert and there have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of the products listed below, consumers are still advised to dispose of the items or return them to the place of purchase. Great Value and Pork King Good products sold at Idaho Walmart stores are included in the alert and recall.
Public Health Alert and Food Recall Issued For Pizza and Pork Rinds Sold in Idaho
As of right now, the food list includes pork rinds, breakfast pizzas, and chicken bacon ranch pizzas. The list could grow and the USDA advises consumers to check the list frequently. We will also update the list here when possible. The contaminated products carry a variety of ‘Best By’ and ‘Produced On’ dates, so check the lists carefully to make sure you don’t consume a contaminated product.
The nationwide brands to look for are Mama Cozzi’s from Aldi stores, Pork King Good, and Great Value at Walmart Stores.
Photo Credit USDA – 1
Photo Credit USDA – 1
You can also look through these label photos to see if you have the product in your freezer.
Photo Credit USDA Recalls
Photo Credit USDA Recalls
Photo Credit USDA Recalls
Photo Credit USDA Recalls
Photo Credit USDA Recalls
If you feel sick and have consumed a contaminated product, the USDA advise you to contact your health care provider.
Guy Fieri’s Top Idaho Moments On Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives
Food Network just posted a compilation video of Guy at these spots!
Gallery Credit: Shannon Buccola
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