Contact us: idahoreports@idahoptv.org

In this week's newsletter:

• Absentee ballot restrictions pass committee
• Bill introduced to bring back executions via firing squad
• Marriage certificate bill amended in Senate
• ESG legislation to leverage state contracts
• Bill to tax vape products like tobacco introduced

Idaho Reports airs Friday at 8 p.m. on Idaho Public Television.

Committee approves limits on absentee ballots

The House State Affairs Committee introduced a bill that would limit who can apply for an absentee ballot. The only people allowed to request one would be those in the military, disabled, hospitalized or infirmed, on a religious mission, or living in another state temporarily. Absentee ballots would need to be requested 11 days prior to Election Day.  

School bathrooms bill passes Senate Education

Idaho currently leaves the decision on where and how to accommodate transgender or non-binary students to local school districts. The committee heard an hour and a half of testimony from the public, with comments ranging from concerns for transgender people to concerns for cisgender students facing abuse.

Bill introduced to tax vaping products like tobacco

“There’s been an element of surprise that we aren’t already doing this," said sponsor Rep. Jerald Raymond, R-Menan. "We’re just taking care of an issue that probably has been needed to be done for quite some time.”

The generous support of viewers like you makes it possible for Idaho Public Television to tell Idaho’s stories.

Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television is made possible through the generous support of the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, the Friends of Idaho Public Television and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.