Idaho

What did they just say? Here's your Idaho legislative glossary

Published

2 years ago

January 9, 2024

What did they just say? Here's your Idaho legislative glossary

Like just about every facet of society, the Idaho legislature has its own sort of dialect complete with acronyms and terms you don’t really find outside of state government.

If you’re having trouble following along, or are simply curious about what the heck these wacky words mean, we’ve got you covered. If you can’t find the term you’re looking for, ask us and we might add it to the list!

For now, here are some of the most common asked about terms related to the Idaho legislature arranged in alphabetical order because we’re nice like that:

CEC: Shorthand for Change in Employee Compensation, or state employee pay raises. Any proposed salary increase goes through two committees before it’s considered by the House and Senate.
General Orders/14th Order of Business: These terms belong to the House and Senate respectively. When they come up, it means it’s time to amend some bills, which can be fraught with danger in the most nerdy way possible.
House/Senate Pages: Legislative employees made up mostly of high school students. Duties include distributing documents to lawmakers, setting up committee rooms and other tasks as assigned.
JFAC (Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee): Legislators often refer to the committee by pronouncing it [JAY-fack]. Potentially the most powerful committee within the legislature, it compiles and proposes budgets for each state agency.
Legislative Services Office: Also called LSO, the Legislative Services Office is staffed by nonpartisan state employees. It serves all legislators by offering budget analyses, audits of state agencies, IT help and bill drafting.
Radiator capping: The practice of amending a bill by completely altering its name, substance and effect, leaving just its original bill number. See above referenced danger.
Reading Calendars: Bills must be read three times in the House and Senate before they may be considered and voted on. The first, second and third “reading calendars” list each bill and give lawmakers and the public an idea of when they may be discussed.
RS: This is shorthand for what’s known as a “routing slip.” Basically, think of it as a baby bill. Legislative committees must vote to introduce an RS before it can be an official bill under consideration.
Senate President Pro Tem: The President Pro Tem plays a similar leadership role in the Senate, though the body is presided over by the lieutenant governor. In the absence of the lieutenant governor, the president pro tem takes their place.
Speaker of the House: The Speaker of the House oversees the vast majority of events in the chamber. All state representatives vote to confirm the speaker, though they are nominated from within the majority party.
Sponsor: Sponsors are lawmakers who take the responsibility of presenting a particular bill in committee, as well as on the House and Senate floors. The sponsor may or may not have written the legislation.
Veto: An action that can be taken by a governor to prevent a bill from becoming law. Legislators may override a veto and pass said bill into law with a two-thirds majority vote.

Follow James Dawson on Twitter @RadioDawson for more local news.

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Idaho

Water Outlook does not look promising in SW Idaho, but it could be worse without all the precipitation

Published

8 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Water Outlook does not look promising in SW Idaho, but it could be worse without all the precipitation

BOISE, Idaho — It has been a dismal year for snow, but we’ve actually received more precipitation than normal in the Boise and Payette River basins. The difference has been the temperature, and we are trying to learn what the change in climate means for water users— both commercial and recreational.

“If you think about the lack of snow we have gotten in the Treasure Valley, it is unusual,” said hydrologist Troy Lindquist with the National Weather Service.

Click here to see the conditions and hear from the National Weather Service.

Water Outlook does not look promising, but it could be worse without all the precipitation

The mountains of western and central Idaho received some snow this week, and that bumped up the snow water equivalent to 83 percent of average in the Boise Basin, 81 percent in the Payette River Basin, and 69 percent in the Weiser River Basin.

The lack of snow is obvious at lower elevations, but we have also received 4.88 inches of rain at the Boise Airport since the beginning of October, a full inch above the average. I wanted to talk with Troy Linquist to learn more about this strange winter and what it means for the future.

“If we don’t have that mid and low elevation snowpack, that’s just overall going to decrease the spring run-off,” said Lindquist. “Instead of it holding as snow and holding in the mountains, that rain has increased the reservoir system.”

I’ve been out kayaking as the South Fork of the Payette River is flowing at normal summer levels and has been for several weeks.

Most of Idaho’s rivers are flowing higher than normal, including Mores Creek, which dumps into Lucky Peak Reservoir.

It’s good news, but not as good as if the precipitation was sticking around in the mountains in the form of a deep snowpack.

Mores Creek just above Lucky Peak Reservoir

“If we just don’t get the snow that is going to impact the water supply, it’s going to impact vegetation, spring flows, the health of the ecosystem, and stuff like that,” added Lindquist.

The team at the National Weather Service will continue to monitor the situation daily and Troy Lindquist told me the outlook for the next ten days doesn’t look good. However, the wet winter months are a marathon, not a sprint— with several months left to improve the outlook. That said, it could also get worse.

The reservoirs have added water from the rivers and streams

“We got the second half of January, February, and March where we can accumulate snowpack,” explained Lindquist. “We do have time to see that snowpack recover, and that’s what we are hoping for.”

The Boise system has pretty good carryover from last year between Anderson Ranch, Arrowrock, and Lucky Peak. The system is 58 percent full, and the Payette system is 71 percent full.

Snow water equivalent after this week's snow

Some of Idaho’s river basins are actually doing pretty well right now, but southern Idaho is doing the worst, as the Owyhee River Basin is sitting at 20 percent of its average snowpack.

ALSO READ | Lemons into lemonade: Kayakers get a unique, winter opportunity while snow conditions worsen

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Idaho

Idaho faces “snow drought” despite high precipitation levels

Published

20 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Idaho faces “snow drought” despite high precipitation levels

Water managers in Idaho are expressing concern over an unusual weather pattern causing a “snow drought” across much of the state, despite a wet start to Water Year 2026. While fifteen of Idaho’s twenty-six river basins are experiencing “pluvial” conditions with exceptionally high precipitation, twelve of these basins are facing snow drought. This phenomenon occurs when winter precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, a situation exacerbated by the warmest winter on record, surpassing the previous record set in 1934.

The Spokane basin exemplifies this issue, with moderately pluvial precipitation conditions but exceptional drought snowpack conditions. Snow has only accumulated significantly at high elevations, leaving areas like the Big Lost River basin’s valley floor, downstream from Mackay, without snow cover.

Despite these challenges, some basins, including the Big Wood, Little Wood, Big Lost, and Little Lost, are seeing snowpack levels almost a month ahead of schedule. The Upper Snake River basin is also wetter than normal, which is crucial for recovering from drought due to below-normal reservoir carryover at the start of the water year.

Northern Idaho requires significant snowpack accumulation to recover from drought conditions, while western Idaho risks drought without more snow. Eastern Idaho is faring better, except for the southern side of the Snake River basin, which needs substantial snowpack for drought recovery.

An active weather pattern is forecasted for the next week, but drier than normal conditions are expected to begin this weekend and last for at least a week. Water managers will be closely monitoring temperatures to see if they drop enough to convert precipitation into the much-needed snowpack.

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Idaho

PUC takes comments on Idaho Power fire mitigation plan | Capital Press

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

PUC takes comments on Idaho Power fire mitigation plan

Published 2:20 pm Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Idaho law requires utilities file annual plan

State regulators will take written comments through Feb. 12 on Idaho Power’s wildfire mitigation plan, a document that the company has submitted in each of the last five years and is now required under 2025 legislation.

The current edition of the plan includes information on the use of software to identify wildfire risk, on efforts to enhance the Boise-based utility’s wildfire situational awareness, and on how design methods for new transmission lines and upgrades of existing lines will reduce wildfire ignition potential in heightened risk areas, according to an Idaho Public Utilities Commission news release.

The Western U.S. has experienced an increase in the frequency and intensity of wildland fires due to factors including changing climatic conditions, increased human encroachment in wildland areas, historical land management practices and changes in wildland and forest health, according to the application Idaho Power filed with the PUC.

“While Idaho has not experienced fires to the same magnitude as some other Western states, Idaho’s wildfire season has grown longer and more intense,” according to the application. “Warmer temperatures, reduced snowpack and earlier snowmelt contribute to drier conditions, extending the period of heightened fire risk.”

Wildfire law

A 2024 peak wildfire season that started earlier than usual, ended late, was busy throughout and caused substantial damage was a factor in the 2025 Idaho Legislature passing Senate Bill 1183, the Wildfire Standard of Care Act.

The law aims to protect utilities’ customers and member owners by empowering the PUC to set expectations and hold the utilities and strong standards, and outline liabilities for utilities that fail to meet the requirements, according to the bill’s purpose statement.

Wildfires in recent years have “bankrupted utilities and driven their customers’ monthly bills to crippling levels. In part this is due to courts holding utilities liable for wildfire damages despite no finding of fault or causation,” according to the purpose statement.

As for liability, in a civil action where wildfire-related damages are sought from the utility, “there is a rebuttable presumption that the electric corporation acted without negligence if, with respect to the cause of the wildfire, the electric corporation reasonably implemented a commission-approved mitigation plan,” the bill text reads.

Each electric utility’s mitigation plan identifies areas where the utility has infrastructure or equipment that it says may be subject to heightened risk of wildfire, states actions the utility will take to reduce fire risk, and details how public outreach will be done before, during and after the season, according to the PUC release.

Idaho Power’s new mitigation plan includes an updated risk zone map, and qualitative risk adjustments by area to account for unique factors that may raise or lower risk because of changes that have occurred over time, such as to vegetation composition due to fire impacts, according to the application.

Comments on the case, IPC-E-25-32, can be submitted online or at secretary@puc.idaho.gov.

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