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This week, House Majority Leader Jason Monks discusses his new leadership position and a complex school facility bill that he’s sponsoring. Then, Kevin Richert and Dr. Jaclyn Kettler join us to give their insights on the session so far, including lawmakers' threatened lawsuit over the University of Phoenix purchase.

Idaho Reports airs Friday at 8 pm on Idaho Public Television.

This week at the statehouse:

After lengthy debate Thursday, the Idaho Senate in a 15-19 vote killed a bill that would have granted some legal immunity to the manufacturers of pesticides. The bill was supported by Bayer and would have impacted both tort law and common law lawsuits.

Lawmakers in the House want to join the list of states requiring pornography websites to verify the ages of their users. The legislation takes a different approach than a bill passed in the Senate on Monday, which would make device manufacturers implement age filters.

The Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee passed a resolution on a 6-3 vote Wednesday that would support calling an Article V convention of the states under the U.S. Constitution. The legislation targets a balanced national budget and the growing national debt, as well as term limits at the federal level. 

In a resolution unveiled Thursday, lawmakers are threatening a lawsuit opposing the University of Idaho’s proposed University of Phoenix purchase. One of the bill’s two co-sponsors did not pass judgment on the merits of the Phoenix purchase — but he decried the closed-door meetings leading up to it that left lawmakers in the dark.

The House Education Committee unanimously moved a bill forward that would require schools to provide parents and guardians with materials on suicide, self-harm, and other issues after a student bullying incident. It would include “parental empowerment materials, including suicide prevention sources and information on methods to limit students’ access to means of harm to self or others.” 

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