BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Republican state lawmakers in Idaho ousted a senior member of the Republican leadership Thursday in an escalation of a dispute over the way budgets for state agencies are passed.
Rep. Megan Blanksma of Hammett was removed from her position as House majority leader in a vote by colleagues, the Idaho Statesman reported. The vote came a day after Blanksma was the lone House leader to oppose budgets passed by a panel of lawmakers, a controversial new process.
Factions within Idaho’s GOP have been at odds since the co-chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this year introduced rules that nix the process of passing individual agency budgets. Instead certain agencies are grouped together for the purpose of passing “maintenance” budgets, which provide only the minimal funds needed to keep the agencies operating.
Only after those budgets are approved can lawmakers consider agency requests for new spending. The committee leaders have said that process allows for more scrutiny.