Mark Harris — Moved to send House Joint Memorial 21 to the Senate floor with a do-pass recommendation.
Ron Taylor — Senator Ron Taylor moved to send House Bill 887 to the floor with a due pass recommendation, and was identified as the maker of that motion.
Ron Taylor — Senator Taylor was recognized to ask a question and then joked about being in multiple committees at the same time, saying they were bouncing between meetings while engaging in the discussion with Representative Petsky.
Ron Taylor — Asked for clarification about the mine's location relative to Patterson.
Jim Guthrie — Asked a question about the closed-loop system and what happens to the water after it exits the facility.
Jim Guthrie — Asked whether water in a closed-loop system is re-injected or otherwise handled after exiting the facility.
Jim Guthrie — Senator Guthrie was recognized after the closing exchange.
Jim Guthrie — Moved that House Bill 895 be sent to the floor with a due pass recommendation.
Jim Guthrie — Recognized after the witness's extended response.
Jim Guthrie — Summarized his understanding of House Bill 939 and asked about penalties or citations for misuse.
Doug Okuniewicz — The committee first asked whether there were any further questions for Representative Raibold, then later invited Raibold to offer any closing remarks before the discussion moved on.
Doug Okuniewicz — Doug Okuniewicz expressed support for advancing House Bill 939 to the floor while noting he still had some legal concerns, particularly around how cameras might be treated on private versus public property. He then offered to make the motion to move the bill forward.
Cynthia Gibson — Cynthia Gibson was introduced and then testified on behalf of the Idaho Conservation League in support of House Bill 895. She said the bill is a proactive and necessary step to address one of the major environmental impacts of data centers, especially their water consumption and broader effects on Idaho’s water resources. She noted she is not an expert on data centers but believes they can be hard on the environment and that the bill would help reduce water usage. She concluded by offering to answer questions, and the chair thanked her for testifying.
Ms. Gibson — The witness was asked to respond to questions about data center environmental impacts.
Julie VanOrden — Seconded Senator Guthrie's motion.
James Petsky — Introduced himself as Representative James Petsky from District 21 in Meridian and presented House Bill 939.
Representative Petsky — Was thanked for bringing the bill forward and asked about interim work on enforcement issues.
Representative Petsky — Confirmed the bill codifies the rule language with exemptions, but said he was not the expert on exact penalties.
Representative PICT — Responded to Senator Taylor's question about enforcement challenges and possible future fixes.
Van Burtenshaw — Van Burtenshaw, acting as chair, moved the hearing from questions on Representative Petsky to witness testimony, invited witnesses to state their names and affiliations for the record, and later asked whether the representative had anything further or wanted to close before proceeding to the motion process.
Ellery Tucker Williams — Identified herself as the Legislative and Community Engagement Coordinator for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and began answering questions about enforcement authority and citations.
Dexton Lake — Dexton Lake, representing the Idaho Farm Bureau, testified in support of the bill, thanked Representative Petsky for his work, expressed appreciation for anyone carrying the bill on the Senate floor, and concluded by offering to answer questions.
Jeff Abrams — Jeff Abrams, representing the Idaho Conservation League, testified about the Fish and Game working group on hunting technology. He described the stakeholder groups and policy organizations that informed the discussion, explained that the group ultimately made recommendations to Idaho Fish and Game about limiting certain technologies to preserve fair chase sporting experiences, and said those recommendations then went through negotiated rulemaking. Abrams added that ICL appreciated the effort to move the conversation forward but was concerned House Bill 939 could undermine the year-long public input process and the enforceability of the resulting rules. He also said ICL supported the working group’s good intentions and hoped future consensus processes would be given more time.
Phil Hart — Addressed by the speaker in response to the question about data centers.
Mark Harris — The meeting moves from a procedural motion seconded by Senator Mark Harris to Senator Cole being recognized to question the witness. Senator Cole asks about environmental concerns involving data centers, including impacts on localities and water resources, and the witness responds to his question.
Mark Harris — Representative Petsky was referenced; the transcript likely means Representative Petsky, not a listed member, so no member ID applies.
Mark Harris — Seconded the motion to send House Bill 939 to the floor.
Phil Hart — Phil Hart, serving as vice chair, identified himself and called the meeting to order in the chairman's absence, noting that four bills were on the agenda.
Phil Hart — Jokedly referenced by Representative Raybold as the person being promoted.