PAYETTE COUNTY â As reported Friday by the Lewiston Tribune, week 16 of the 2021 Idaho legislative session saw some controversy in the form of the suspension and subsequent resignation of Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, R-Lewiston, following a House Ethics Committee investigation into rape allegations brought against him by a 19-year-old legislative intern. Otherwise, the session continues as the Legislature works to hammer out the stateâs budgets for the 2021-22 fiscal year.
As pointed out by attorney Jeremy Pisca of Risch Pisca PLLC in a news release Friday, the Idaho Constitution requires the Legislature present a balanced budget âand the session cannot conclude until every budget is set.â College and university budgets, as well as those for K-12 schools, are back to the House of Representatives as of Friday following the defeat of their previous versions earlier in the session.
Are Alaska wildlife better protected than people?
âWhen something horrible happens to our people, we donât have law enforcementâ
Author:
Joaqlin Estus
In Southeast Alaska, Tlingit villagers say it seems like the state places more value on the life of a moose than the safety of human beings.
In early April the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida held a forum on House Bill 123, which would provide state recognition to federally recognized tribes. The subject of public safety response times compared to wildlife protection came up.
“In our villages, we often don t have law enforcement, right? When something happens to our people, [when] something horrible happens, we don t have the law enforcement that other communities have,” said First Alaskans Institute CEO and President La Quen Náay Liz Medicine Crow, who is Haida and Tlingit.
Legislation doesn t always happen slowly, TX House addresses sexual harassment concerns
Published
AUSTIN - Houston area Texas House Representative Senfronia Thompson filled HB 4661 on Wednesday, April 28. It was read that day and assigned to the State Affairs Committee. The Committee placed the bill into a public hearing the following day, Thursday. I m no stranger to these issues.as a Freshman in 1973, a colleague of mine called me his Black mistress . I was pressured by my colleagues on the floor to remain silent. State Rep. Senfronia Thompson
Rep. Senfronia Thompson HB 4661
Houston area State Representative Senfronia Thompson lays our HB 4661 to the House State Affairs Committee.
The Capitol’s Toxic Culture
News broke last weekend that the Texas Department of Public Safety was investigating an allegation that a legislative staffer had been drugged by a lobbyist who works for one of the most powerful firms in Austin. On Thursday, DPS and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office announced in a statement that DPS conducted its investigation and that “we have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support these allegations and that criminal charges are not appropriate. No crime occurred in this instance.”
The allegations had prompted several lawmakers to ban lobbyists from that firm or lobbyists altogether from visiting their offices this week. But many who work at the Capitol said that there must be a bigger reckoning with the Capitol’s longstanding toxic culture of sexism, discrimination, and harassment. “Legislators banning this lobbyist and his firm is not enough. Change the culture,” San Antonio Representative Ina Minjarez tweeted