House panel kills plan to wipe out local knife rules

BOISE - An Idaho House panel has narrowly killed a bill that would have wiped out local ordinances banning knives in schools and jails.

The House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee voted 9-8 to nix the plan on Monday.

Republican Sen. Lee Heider says the goal of the bill was to let the state create uniform regulations, instead of allowing district-by-district rules.

But Democratic Rep. John Gannon says that the proposal would ban all school district regulation on knives with a two-and-a-half inch blade or smaller - and leave the legislature almost no time to pass a comprehensive law to replace them.

Michael Kane from the Idaho Sheriffs' Association says the bill would have also allowed inmates to produce and possess knives in jails.

The proposal had already passed the Senate 25-10.

House approves pay increase for teachers

BOISE - The Idaho House has approved a long-awaited plan to give Idaho teachers a raise.

The plan would raise salaries for rookie teachers by almost $1,000 to $32,700 in July. Over the next five years, first-year pay would increase to $37,000 per year.

Lawmakers voted 62-8 to pass the plan with no discussion in the chamber on Monday.

The proposal is likely to push the legislative session beyond its expected end date Friday to allow budget-writing lawmakers time to allocate roughly $123 million for the plan.

Two previous versions failed in the House Education Committee.

Republican Rep. Reed DeMordaunt from Eagle, who chairs the panel, told lawmakers that low salaries are to blame for the state's shortage of teachers.

The bill now goes to the Senate side for consideration.

Salamander bill passes Idaho House

BOISE - A grade school student's plan to designate the Idaho giant salamander as the official state amphibian has passed the Idaho House.

Lawmakers voted 51-17 Monday to endorse 14-year-old Ilah Hickman's plan.

Hickman has brought it before the Legislature each of the last five years.

The House State Affairs Committee had killed the bill in late January, but unexpectedly revived the bill. Still, 17 Republicans - including all four members of GOP House leadership - voted against the bill.

The salamander lives almost exclusively in Idaho and can grow to be more than a foot long.

The plan now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Republican Rep. Patrick McDonald from Boise, who sponsored the bill, says that he grew to appreciate the salamander after one was brought to the committee's hearing.