coming up next from boise, idaho, governor butch otter with his annual message to state lawmakers. you can watch more state of the state speeches at c-span.org by typing your state in the search bar. >> honored guests, friends, my family and, of course, our first lady, miss lori.

. >> idaho republican governor butch otter delivered his annual state of the state address recently in the state capital of boise. the governor said the state is steadily improving and pointed to a number of investments in education in the recent years. he made positive iraqis on the new administration, saying he hoped the trump administration would work with western states on environmental regulation and conservation. this is about a half an hour. >> honored guests, friends, my family and, of course, our first lady, miss lori. before i begin, allow me to add my welcome and my best wishes for all the new members of the legislature joining us here today. thank each of you for bringing your life experiences and your unique perspectives to our important work here in the people's house. also, i have the privilege today of introducing newly elected supreme court justice robin brodin to this chamber and to the idaho judiciary. congratulations, madam justice. the new year also brings some key departures from our executive branch of government. i'm sure you will join me in wishing kevin kemp g

coming up next from boise, idaho, governor butch otter with his annual message to state lawmakers. you can watch more state of the state speeches at c-span.org by typing your state in the search bar. >> honored guests, friends, my family and, of course, our first lady, miss lori. before i begin, allow me to add my welcome and my best wishes for all the new members of the legislature joining us here today. thank each of you for bringing your life experiences and your unique perspectives to our important work here in the people's house. also, i have the privilege today of introducing newly elected supreme court justice robin brodin to this chamber and to the idaho judiciary. congratulations, madam justice. [ applause ] the new year also brings some key departures from our executive branch of government. i'm sure you will join me in wishing kevin kemp god speed in his new national responsibilities after two eventful and successful years as the director of the department of corrections. we are also losing sam hodge to a well deserved retirement from the office of aging. and kelly pierc

and later another state of the state address from idaho's butch otter. today, the bipartisan heroin task force will host a hearing on synthetic opioids, that hearing led by the task force co-chairs congresswoman annie kuster, democrat from new hampshire and new jersey republican tom macarthur will focus on the science and treatment issues behind synthetic opioids like fentanyl. see that live starting at 4:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span3. >>> and the u.s. senate is back today for a week's worth of debate and votes on president trump's cabinet nominees. first up is education secretary nominee betsy devos. lawmakers resume debating her nomination today at noon with a final confirmation vote scheduled for tomorrow. nominations on the agenda after that, jeff sessions for attorney general, tom price for hhs and steve mnuchin for treasury secretary. they'll continue working on those throughout the week. watch the senate live on c-sp 2 c-span2. >>> tonight on the communicators, consumer technology association president gary shapiro talks about the major technolo

governor butch otter talking about the affordable care act and what he hopes the administration willo to improve it. >> we stride for personal really license as well as in our state government. two federal edicts this year has been more damaging and more damaging to our self-determination than the affordable care act. there is broad agreement in this body on the need to help tens of thousands of idaho with incomes too high to qualify for obama care subsidy but too low to afford the health care coverage on their own. there is very little support for expanding medicaid. i understand that. it would mean subordinating our -- to the soaring song of federal dollars and neither the nation -- national government nor taxpayers can afford either. beyond continuing to seek the lucid answers to the policy questions we've been answering for years, we have the option of waiting to see what the trump administration and congress will do with obamacare. but waiting by itself is seldom a solution. instead while we wait, i would encourage you to seek ways to make idaho less dependent on the feds. that

. >> idaho republican governor butch otter delivered his annual state of the state address recently in the state capital of boise. the governor said the state is steadily improving and pointed to a number of investments in education in the recent years. he made positive iraqis on the new administration, saying he hoped the trump administration would work with western states on environmental regulation and conservation.