state politics: idaho
Bits and Pieces from the Idaho Legislature
By Sharon Fisher, 2-15-08
What district would that be?
This is from a week ago, but it’s still funny.
When House members vote, Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, intones “Does any member wish to change their vote” before finalizing the vote. House members also use the same voting system to record their presence when the House opens.
On one particularly snowy morning, as attendance was being taken, Denney caught himself automatically saying, “Does any member wish…” and then, smiling, finished by saying “…to change their presence?”
“Mr. Chair, I wish I were in Hawaii,” responded one legislator.
Analogies, we got analogies
In the continuing department of interesting analogies, Bob Maynard, chief investment officer for the PERSI retirement program, told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that “Half the time, you could put a three-year-old in our position,” because their job is to say “No, we don’t want to” in response to investment opportunities.
Queen for a Day – or maybe a minute
Senator Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello, recently celebrated a birthday, and Senator Dean Cameron, R-Rupert – who cochairs the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee of which she is a member – awarded her a crown during the “announcements” portion of the Senate session for that day.
“I don’t know whether I have a big head or what, but it won’t stay on,” Bilyeu said, thanking him – at which point it fell off.
He also walks on water
In promoting Senator Brad Little, R-Emmett, for the position on the Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board, Senator Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston, described him thusly: “He puts on jeans, a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, puts his dog in his pickup, and goes out to buy a ranch somewhere,” which well-suited Little for the position, he said.
Turning over the pages
The first batch of Senate pages went home this week, but not before putting together a presentation (dedicated to Senator Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, who is recovering from brain surgery) they showed to the Senate, featuring pictures of pages with each Senator. Certain pictures got more reaction than others – such as the ones where all the pages stood in the same position as the Senator, or the one older Senator who was getting kissed on the cheeks by two female pages – but no picture got a bigger laugh than the one for Senator John McGee, R-Caldwell. Pages grouped themselves around the notorious camera-phile—all holding up microphones.
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