Update on Priority Legislation – Week of February 17, 2020

The past week has been a busy one for our priority legislation. The Public Defense Pilot Project legislation (House Bill 429) had a hearing in the House Judiciary and Rules Committee yesterday afternoon. There was a robust discussion led by our bill sponsor Chairman Chaney. The committee is set up a bit differently this year, so they will not vote on the legislation until later this week.  

The Whistleblower Act (House Bill 430), sponsored by Chairman Chaney, is scheduled for a hearing on February 25th in the House Judiciary and Rules Committee. This bill will have strong opposition from the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association. We encourage you to contact the committee members and encourage them to support H0430 in order to save taxpayers from being overburdened by open-ended claims.

Our Priority legislation regarding Juvenile Pretrial Release/Odyssey Fees (House Bill 463), sponsored by Rep. Wright-Hartgen, is also scheduled for a hearing on February 25th in the House Judiciary and Rules Committee. We encourage IAC members to attend this hearing on the 25th to support H0463 and H0430.

The write-in Deadline update (Senate Bill 1268) moved from the amending order to the 2nd reading calendar in the Senate today.